Maybe it was some cruel final burst of strength before the end, but for a few days my body hurt more while my mind felt strangely clear.
Perhaps Chloe heard I was doing a little better.
Because not long after, she came to the hospital.
The second Lily saw her, she snapped.
“No whores. No dogs. Both are banned from this room. Get out before I throw you out.”
But Chloe surprised us.
Instead of fighting back, she suddenly dropped to her knees beside my bed and started crying.
“Ava, please,” she sobbed. “I’m pregnant with Mr. Shaw’s baby.”
The room went silent.
“You’re dying anyway,” she continued, tears streaming. “Can you do one good thing before you go? Give my child his father back.”
Three months.
She was three months pregnant.
And I had been sick for three months.
So while Ethan stood by my bedside saying he needed me, he had still been sleeping with another woman.
What exactly did a man like him need a dying woman for?
Nothing.
He had just been lying again.
Fortunately, I never believed him.
Chloe reached for my arm, pulling at me while crying. I was too weak to resist and nearly got dragged halfway off the bed. Lily lunged in front of me and got scratched badly across the hand and wrist in the struggle.
Then a third person entered.
Someone grabbed Chloe by the hair and yanked her back so hard she screamed.
It was Ethan.
His face was terrifying.
Jaw tight. Eyes dark. Breathing hard.
“I warned you,” he snarled. “If you ever came near my wife again, I’d kill you.”
Chloe’s expression twisted.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Lily grabbed a pillow from nearby and hurled it at both of them.
“Take your trash and get out!”
Ethan dragged Chloe away.
At the door, he turned back and said, “Wait for me. I’ll come back and explain everything.”
I looked away.
Who was waiting for him?
I didn’t care anymore.
Lily lowered her head to check my face.
“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
I placed a hand over my chest and deliberately made a pitiful face.
“My heart hurts. I need to go shopping or I might not recover.”
She stared at me.
Then she laughed despite herself.
Maybe because I’d been looking a little better lately, or maybe because she couldn’t bear to refuse me, she agreed to take me out for a while.
On the way, I bought a roasted sweet potato and brought it into her car.
Lily had a cleanliness obsession. She hated people eating in her car.
So naturally I took huge bites and let crumbs fall all over the seat just because I could.
Her jaw tightened, but since I was sick, she pretended not to see it.
Then I told her where to drive.
A bridal boutique.
She was getting married in the spring.
I probably wouldn’t live to see it.
So I wanted to see her in a wedding dress once.
She didn’t ask me why I’d brought her there.
Her eyes just quietly turned red as she followed me inside.
We knew each other too well.
I picked out a satin gown for her.
Elegant. Soft. Beautiful.
When she came out wearing it, I almost cried.
She looked stunning.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
Then I chose a bridesmaid dress for myself and changed into it too. I squeezed into her fitting room and asked the clerk to take a photo of us together.
In the picture, it looked almost as if I would really get to stand beside her on her wedding day.
I asked, “Should we buy it?”
She rolled her eyes and lowered her voice.
“Buy what? Do you know how expensive this thing is? Let’s just take a few more pictures and leave.”
I laughed.
Then while she stayed inside admiring herself in the mirror, I slipped out and paid for the dress in secret.
She was the best girl in the world.
She deserved the prettiest wedding dress in the world.
After we left the boutique, I endured the stabbing pain in my chest, hailed a cab, and went alone to the cemetery to see my mother.
Mom.
This time I’m really here to say goodbye.
No jokes.
No pretending.
And please… don’t cry when you see me.