The door creaked open again, and several pairs of footsteps entered. There must’ve been half a dozen. I suspected all my friends were here.
“I’ll be right outside,” Sophia said gently. “I’ll call Liam. We’ll… we’ll do it once he arrives.”
Ancestors, that could be mere hours from now. I had so little time to spend with her.
But I was fooling myself. Ava was already gone… shehadbeen gone for a week now. It had just taken me that long to accept it.
“Oh, gods,” Kallie choked out. “She lookshorrible.”
I heard her sob, and it twisted me up inside. Kallie was tough. For her to act like that… I knew I must’ve been making the right decision.
I was grateful I was blind. I had no wish to have the image of Ava’s broken body in my memory forever, as the last I’d ever see of her.
“Is it true?” Ez said. “The doctor just said—”
“It’s true,” I cut him off. I could barely keep my tone steady. “I’m just trying to honor her wishes.”
“I… I can’t believe this is it,” Kallie whispered.
Hell, neither could I. This was too much. I didn’t think I’d ever stop blaming myself for what was about to happen. I wanted to disappear… to just stop existing.
“She saved us, you know?” Marcus said.
“She died a hero,” Alistair added softly. “I’ll never forget what she gave up, trying to get Eddie back to us.”
Opal sniffled. “I’m going to miss her. She was my first friend at the Institute.”
I heard Ivy give a tearful huff, and he stomped toward me. “This is fucking bullshit. Youcan’tdo this, Charlie,” Ivy argued. “The doctors have to keep trying!”
“Ivy, there’s nothing—” I started, but he cut me off.
“No!” he shouted, and he shoved me backward. “There has to besomething,goddammit, you hear me?! You can’t give up on her!”
His words were like a knife through my gut. Was he right? Was I giving up on her… or was I giving her the future she wanted in the Ancestral Lands?
I tried to rationalize, even as instinct was fighting against me to keep her alive. “They’ve tried all the potions and healing magic they can, and it isn’t enough. Ava… chose this. I can’t hold her back from being at peace.”
“She wouldn’tdothat! The Ava I know wouldn’t give in!” Ivy yelled. “What kind of fucking husband are you, taking your wife’s life away?”
I’d had a lot of people say some really shitty things to me in my life. But Ivy completely leveled me when he let those words fly out of his mouth. He knew how to hurt people, and nothing anyone had said or could say in the future would ever cut me like he just did.
“Ives, cut it out,” Chancey snapped. “I know you’re hurt. We’re all losing Ava, but Charlie’s losing the love of his life.”
“I don’twantto do this,” I pleaded. “But I believe it’s what Ava wants.”
“I think so, too,” Ez agreed. “We gotta let her go.”
Ivy gave a few more gasping sobs, but said nothing more. I heard footsteps as our friends circled Ava’s bed. Then the room fell silent. I wondered if they were waiting for me to say something, but what could I say? I’d only known Ava-Marie for a short while, yet everything I could possibly say about this woman would take a lifetime to share. She was my wife, the other half of my soul. Words just weren’t enough in a time like this.
All I could do was take her hand in mine and let the tears come. I didn’t care that all my friends were watching. I couldn’t hold my grief back for anything.
Ancestors, I was going to miss her.
Marcus drew a breath, then the room filled with a beautiful tune. He began to sing O Holy Night… and it fucking shattered my heart. Somehow, Marcus always knew what you needed, even if you didn’t know it yourself.
Kallie joined in, then Opal. I heard Ivy chime in on the third line, and eventually, Chancey and Alistair added their voices. Even Oberi began humming the harmony in my mind.
My chest racked with sobs as their voices filled the room. Ava would love it. It was so beautiful, and it was our last goodbye to her. We’d sing her off to sleep, so her soul could rest… and wait for me.
