5…
“And what’s the first item on your list?” I asked. “The most important one?”
4…
She turned in my arms to face me, her eyes locking with mine.
3…
“The most important thing,” she said, her voice full of certainty, “is to live every day fully, right beside the people I love most.”
2…
“That’s exactly what I’ll do.”
1…
“Happy New Year, Logan.”
“Happy New Year, Evy.”
As fireworks exploded in the sky, we kissed, turning that simple resolution into a sacred promise.
*****
Epilogue 2
LAYLA
Those awful beeps…
They sounded distant, but I could hear them. And, more than that, I recognized them.
That insistent, electronic pulse was unfortunately familiar. I’d listened to it for months while accompanying my mother through her final hospital treatments. But that routine had ended four months ago. My mother was gone.
So why did the sound of hospital equipment now haunt my dreams? Or… was this a nightmare?
It made sense. I could feel myself swimming back to consciousness—the feel of a pillow under my head, the murmur of voices around me. But the beeping didn’t stop. It grew louder, more real.
“She’s coming around!” a woman said. A voice I didn’t know.
I forced my eyes open, immediately assaulted by a dizzying brightness. I squeezed them shut again, scrambling to piece together my memories.
New Year’s Eve.I hadn't wanted to go to the party at Camila’s mother-in-law’s mansion, but she’d insisted. I went, and I instantly regretted it. It wasn't the people; it was me. I just… couldn’t pretend to be okay. So I decided to leave, with no destination in mind. I just couldn't go back to my empty apartment.
I was about to call an Uber when someone else, also leaving early, offered me a ride. He was adrift, too.
Who was it?
And then…
Nothing. A black void.
“Layla? Layla, can you hear me?” a different female voice asked.
“What happened?” I managed to croak.
I opened my eyes again, more slowly this time. A woman in a white coat—a doctor—was moving a penlight in front of my face.
