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

were several photos

the images, she could clearly see the inside of a high-tech artificial incubator- quiet, complex,

hands started to sweat. Trembling, she

"Today is our baby's five months and twenty-seven days. Everything's looking great. Maybe, one day, I'll show up with the

last month, when he was in

Elodie could

watcharely breathe as she

screen

tiny life on the

so clear, every movement

visible, technology capturing each

delicate gesture.

of miles away, yet

This was her salvation.

the feelings

over, intensifying until she could hardly stand it. She

This was her child.

Her and Jarrod's child.

her fingertip, as if she could stroke the baby's

from afar.

she'd never known filled her