The iciness of his tone would've chilled most people to the bone, but Wendy was unfazed. She and Garion had known each other since they were children. It was impossible for her to fear him when she could still remember him as the boy who once wetted himself after watching a horror movie.
"I know you, Garion," she said softly. "I'm sure you've already convinced yourself that you won't need anyone else when I'm gone, and you'll simply raise Theo on your own."
His expression hardened even more. "This isn't something I want to talk about."
"Garion, please..." She looked at her husband appealingly. "We don't have much time. You know that."
Her husband's lips tightened.
"Theo will need a mother. I'm not sure when that will happen, but you'll know when it's time to look for one."
"I can give him everything—-"
"Iwant Theo to have a mother, Garion, and I want you to find and marry a woman you love. Someone who'll love you the way I couldn't—-"
Garion jerked to his feet. "This conversation is over—-" He turned his back, but his wife managed to reach for his hand before he could walk away.
"Please, Garion."
The frailness of her voice nearly killed him.
Fuck.
Garion turned to his wife, and the tears in her eyes had him breathing hard.
Wendy had always prided herself for being strong and independent.
Someone who never begged or cried.
But now she was doing both.
"Theo is just three now," she whispered. "His memories of me will eventually fade, and the day will come when he'll want to have a mother like other kids do. When that day come, I want you to promise me you'll do everything you can to give him that. And the woman you choose—-"
A spark of jealousy made her voice break, but Wendy chastised herself for being so selfish. The only reason she had married her childhood friend was because she had been lonely. But now that she was about to leave him and Theo in this world...
Garion had his arms around his wife the moment he saw her tears start to fall.
"Stop forcing yourself to talk about this," he said roughly. "You're the only woman for Theo and me, and that will never change."
Wendy knew her husband meant every word, but this only made her sob harder because she also knew it wasn't something she deserved.
She had promised Garion that she would take a leave from work if she were to fall pregnant, but it had only taken her a few months to break her word. She had then promised Garion that she would cut back on work to care for Theo, but she hadn't been able to keep her word on that either.
Garion had never asked her to make such promises, and he had always forgiven her every time she ended up choosing her career over family.
The only time Garion had put his foot down was when he had learned she planned to cover a viral outbreak in East Asia, but Wendy had still insisted on having her way. She had hopped on a flight without telling him. Had ended up with a story that had her winning a Pulitzer...but her triumph was short-lived, for Wendy also ended up getting infected with the very same virus she had written about.
Her world had turned upside down since then, and the virus had decimated her immune system so effectively that she was suddenly diagnosed of terminal lung cancer, and what was supposed to be a long and healthy life was suddenly shortened to mere days.
Death was her price for being so self-centered, and while the thought sometimes made her want to rage and scream—-
She only had to think about her boys, and sanity would thankfully return. She needed to make sure that her boys would be fine, even when she was gone.
Thiswas her last chance to do something for them, and that was why—-
Wendy slowly pulled away from her husband, and the pain etched on the sculpted lines of his gorgeous face broke her heart.
"I'm sorry, Garion," she choked out. "I'm sorry I couldn't be the wife that you deserve—-"