I will be dead in less than a year.
That’s if I’m lucky, and so far luck hasn’t been on my side.
Months – that’s all I have left.
How am I going to tell Jaxson?
Willow.
I have to let her go. I don’t want her to see me get weaker as the poison kills me.
The bleak hopelessness sucks me dry of my will to fight. The unbearable heartache of having to let Willow go, drags me back down to my knees.
I always feared being the one left behind. I never thought I’d be the one leaving.
888
WILLOW
Marcus has been avoiding me for a month. I’m not giving him a choice anymore. I told him I’ll be at his place after work.
After he canceled our date, I didn’t think anything of it. But he never rescheduled, and he backed out of our Saturday dinners. His messages have become curt, and that’s when he even bothers to send one.
I don’t know what went wrong. I thought we were doing well. I don’t know what brought on his sudden change of heart, but he owes me an explanation.
When I get to his apartment, I knock a few times before I give up. I can’t believe he’s not home. This is not like Marcus at all.
I sit down in front of his door. I will wait him out. There’s no way I’m leaving here without seeing him.
By the time my backside is numb from sitting on the hard floor, Marcus steps out of the elevator.
He looks so tired that I almost forget why I’m here.
He doesn’t bother saying hello as I stand up and wait for him to unlock the door.
He doesn’t
open the door, so we can go in and talk. Instead, he looks at me with no emotion on his face.
“I’ve met someone else, Willow.”
Shock vibrates through me, and his callous attitude only makes it so much worse.
“I love her so we can’t see each other, even as friends.”
“You met someone. Just like that?”
I lift my chin, refusing to show him how much he’s hurting me.
“Yeah, it was… sudden.”
I nod slowly. There’s nothing I can say. Marcus deserves to be happy, it just won’t be me making him happy.
“Okay. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
His eyes meet mine, and for a moment I see my heartache reflecting in his eyes.
“I wanted to make sure,” he says.