How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

He watched as she carefully sorted her clothes, folding each item and packing them into separate bags.

"I've separated the lighter and heavier clothes for you," he explained, his tone gentle but precise. "You catch colds so easily, and I don't want you getting sick while you're away. There's a pillbox here with different kinds of medicine, just in case, and your daily vitamins are all in this clear container." He shook the pillbox for emphasis before tucking it into her suitcase.

Each time he packed something, he looked up at her, explaining exactly what he was doing, making sure she understood.

Elodie simply stood there, watching him in silence.

A tide of emotions welled up inside her-so many, she couldn't even name them all.

Above all, she felt safe. It struck her how Jarrod thought of everything, every little detail she never would have considered.

As he continued, Elodie took a moment to message Esmeralda, asking if she was free to go on the business trip with her.

Esmeralda replied almost immediately: "Of course! Think of it as a little vacation. Honestly, I'll feel better if I'm there with you."

Elodie remembered Esmeralda had gone to celebrate Fleming's birthday and asked, "How did the birthday go?"

There was a pause before Esmeralda answered, "It was nice~"

That was enough to put Elodie at ease. She knew Esmeralda was worried about how slowly she'd been recovering, which was probably why she agreed to join the trip without hesitation.

Elodie reminded her to start packing.

As she closed out of her chat with Esmeralda, she noticed a few unread

messages from Jarrod, sent a while ago.

She clicked on them.

Suddenly, she froze.

filled with

several photos and

could clearly see the inside of a high-tech artificial incubator- quiet, complex, and softly lit-a tiny fetus curled up,

to sweat. Trembling, she tapped on the

five months and twenty-seven days. Everything's looking great. Maybe, one day, I'll show up with the baby in my arms and give you

last month,

Elodie could

watcharely breathe as she

screen

tiny life on the

so clear, every movement

visible, technology capturing each

delicate gesture.

life, thousands of miles away,

This was her salvation.

the feelings

to spill over, intensifying until she could hardly stand it. She wanted to fly to New York that very moment her heart

This was her child.

Her and Jarrod's child.

the screen with her fingertip, as if

from afar.

she'd never known