Page 96

My father falls onto his butt and stares at me with lost eyes. The directors gather around us, sympathy filling their eyes.

“Aiden—” I gently begin, trying to calm him down before he explodes.

“No!” he yells this time. Yep. I was right.

Aiden swivels his head around at everyone. “I swear to God somebody better do something right now!” he yells, the sound ricocheting off the walls.

Nobody moves. They all know there is nothing that can be done. With every second that passes, I am slowly disappearing. Soon, I’ll be somewhere beyond Eden. My only regret is the pain him and my father will go through once I’m gone.

Aiden showed me that I never needed to earn love. I never needed a reason to love. Existing is enough reason to love and be loved. My dad showed me that there is always a little love lingering somewhere, sometimes it’s just beyond your grasp. But it’s there.

I put my hand on Aiden’s face, swiping at the wetness on his cheeks. I whisper, “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. I’m okay because you’re here. I love you, Aiden.”

He uses the back of his hand to swipe at his face aggressively. He clenches his jaw, tightening his grip on me as he fiercely says, “Don’t tell me you love me. This is not goodbye Joyce.”

“It’s not goodbye Aiden…it’s a till we meet again.” I know. I know this is it. That there’s nothing after this. But I can’t help but hope that some way, somehow, we will meet again.

He hugs me tighter. “No. It’s not fair. It’s not fucking fair. You cannot leave me. Please. Baby.” God, this sucks. I wish I could go back in time and figure out a different way to stop Director Young. A way that wouldn’t be causing Aiden and Taevian so much pain.

“Please, tell me you love me,” I beg him, not wanting him to regret not saying those words once I am gone.

“Fuck that. No. Someone tell me what to do!” He looks around desperately for someone to help, for someone to tell him that this isn’t it. That this can be fixed. But as he looks around, everyone looks at him with painful, hopeless expressions. No one says a word.

Aiden lets go of me, leaving me to lay on the floor. I look at him to see him looking at his hands. When he looks at me, I see something I have never seen before.

I see defeat. I realize that I am disappearing too fast for him to have a solid grip on me.

“I can’t even hold you anymore,” he whispers. He takes a shaky deep breath and finally says the words I wanted. The words that make my chest tighten and the wetness in my eyes to finally run down my cheeks.

“I love you, my Joy,” Aiden whispers.

My father is sitting beside Aiden, his hand is where mine should be. He has been quiet this whole time. At least we get to say a proper goodbye this time.

He lets out a gasp and looks at us with hopeful eyes. “There’s something you can do. But it’s risky.”

Aiden desperately looks to him. I feel myself slipping even more.

“I don’t give a fuck if it’s risky. Tell me right goddamn now,” Aiden snaps.

“If you tie your soul with hers, you may be able to stop it…” my father pauses then warns, “or it may destroy your soul along with hers.”

Aiden shakes his head. “I don’t care. There’s no me without her. Let’s do it.” This sounds like an all-around bad plan. I refuse to let Aiden risk himself for me.

“No, Aiden. It’s too risky.”

He glares down at me and snaps, “What about this situation makes you think you have a choice?” I chuckle at his words, thinking back to the first time he said them. We really have come a long way.

Looking into his eyes, I see how much pain he is in. How could I say no? Screw it. One more reckless decision for the road.

I turn to my father. “Okay, how do we do it?”

My father hurriedly replies, “It’s actually very simple. First, you need to place your hands on each other’s chest, where the heart is.”

We do as he says. However, Aiden’s hand is not actually pressing against me due to my fading condition. I smirk at Aiden and say, “You always got to cop a feel, huh.”

Aiden sighs. “Can we joke when you are not moments away from disappearing forever?” He looks at my dad. “Please continue.”

This is it. This is the final thing that the universe can take away or give to me. I can die with the man I love, or I can spend eternity with him. Either way, I’ll be with him.