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

photos

high-tech artificial incubator- quiet, complex, and softly lit-a tiny fetus curled up,

to sweat. Trembling,

Everything's looking great. Maybe, one day, I'll show up with the baby in

recorded it last month, when

Elodie could

watcharely breathe as she

screen

tiny life on the

so clear, every movement

visible, technology capturing each

delicate gesture.

thousands of miles away, yet so deeply, intimately connected

This was her salvation.

feelings she'd

could hardly stand it. She wanted to fly to New York that very moment her heart aching with

This was her child.

Her and Jarrod's child.

traced the screen with her fingertip, as if she

from afar.

happiness she'd never known