How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Jarrod ignored her attempt to pull away; instead, his grip tightened, fingers fitting perfectly between hers.

"No," he said firmly.

Elodie frowned at him.

He met her gaze. "You don't have to bottle everything up. If you're upset, cry. If you want to blame someone, yell at me. I've got all the time in the world-I'll stay right here with you."

She'd only just woken up not long ago; her mind was still a bit foggy. Jarrod's attitude, though, left her dumbfounded. "This is a huge blow for me. I need time to process it. You should give me some space."

"Processing just means sitting alone, overthinking everything, right?" He looked her straight in the eyes. "If you can't have kids, then I can't either. We're both in this together, both a little unlucky. How about we just have a good cry together?"

Whatever emotion Elodie had been building up suddenly stalled out, derailed by his words.

Her beautiful eyes widened at him, but she couldn't get a word out.

Jarrod hooked her pinky with his and kept rubbing it gently, his voice unhurried. "Maybe I should just get a vasectomy, too. That way we're a matching pair, huh?" For a second, Elodie wondered if he was completely out of his mind.

"This isn't something you joke about."

"When have I ever made careless jokes with you?" His voice was calm and clear, not a hint of hesitation or mockery.

He threw her whole train of thought into chaos. She didn't even have time to be sad.

She glared at him.

Jarrod rolled his chair closer, bracing one hand on the edge of her bed, never taking his eyes off her. "That way, you wouldn't have to worry about me running around and fathering kids with someone else. All of me would belong to you, for good. How about that?"

It took Elodie a long moment to find her voice. "Jarrod, how old are you? Are you really still pulling this?"

"What makes you think I have to be with you?" she shot back.

Jarrod just smiled, unfazed by her protest. He leaned back slightly and started unbuttoning his hospital gown.

Elodie's hair stood on end. She immediately grabbed his hand to stop him. "What are you doing?!"

не

His eyes narrowed playfully, his tone teasing Showing you my scars. nearly kicked the bucket, you know. Don@you think you owe me a little something for that?"

She was so shocked by his shamelessness that she just stared at him.

But he wasn't done. He twisted his hand out of her grasp and took her hand in his instead. "What did you think I was doing, undressing for some other reason? Is your mind really going there? Did you think I was trying to seduce you while asking you to take responsibility for me?"

Elodie stared at him, speechless.

She yanked her hand away and ignored his teasing. Looking at him seriously, she

said, “Jarrod, this isn't something you can just laugh off."noveldrama

He fell silent for a moment, meeting her gaze. His Adam's apple bobbed as he

swallowed, and suddenly, he asked, "Elodie, could you love me again?"

She froze, her soul trembling under the weight of the emotion in his eyes.

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"Since I found out you were sick, I haven't stopped thinking. I've tried to imagine any kind of future without you, and just can't. Can we try again 'll admit, I've always been proud, maybe too stubborn to back down. But with you, Elodie, you win. I've never been able to let you go."

He knew what she was thinking.

Children. Fertility.

She was hurting. Struggling.

But he needed her to know.

None of that mattered to him. All he wanted was for her to be healthy and safe.

Most of all, he didn't want her drowning in guilt and regret.

Elodie's chest ached so much she could barely breathe. She looked into his eyes, and suddenly her nose stung.

Before she could stop it, tears slipped down her cheeks.

Since she'd fallen ill, she'd kept every emotion tightly bottled up.

But the way he looked at her now-she couldn't help it. All at once, she just felt so

small, so vulnerable, and so heartbreakingly sad.