and heavy shadows across the wooden tables. I was in my regular place, with the sketchbook open but not drawn upon, and my coffee cooling, and I remembered feeling so

ted time. Make

sed it coming - had felt it in the way my body had been letting me down more and more each day - bu

sipping his espresso as if he lived forever. A young couple laughed over pastries, brushy hands but

outh and muttered through it but the ache remained in my chest. I felt tired

His gaze instantly found mine, and that lopsided grin lifted up his mouth and chased away some of the shadow

the other chair across from me. "You look

my sketchbook shut. "Jus

ed at the screen, int

chuckle. "Maybe. Or perhaps

as if he could feel that something was wron

it away. "Yeah, jus

omething that might make you feel a little bit better. I have a gig tonigh

limmer of excitement cut through the gl

here." He smil ed, and his excitement was indeed contagious. "But I wo

for real. "The one w

rgot the doctor's words, the ticking clock. For that moment, i

id, my voice stea

current of warmth shot through me. His touch was light, but it rooted me, t

couldn't help but look at Alex's hands - rough and worn from years of playing guitar, a sign of his commitment. My own

ex said, his voice timid. "What make

the small things, I believe. How light falls on a face, or the curve of a sm

I treat that like. It's like grasping for some ephemeral

t how intuitively he grokked things. "It's how

d smile, a shadow that mirro

s music, but before I had the chance, a wave of fatigue hit me. My vision went

oncerned and his voice

"Just... a little dizzy. Ma

vinced. "Let's get

erged into the cool late afternoon air and the city sounds of traffic and voice

just clung to me, and for a second I allowed myself to picture a world where this could

rom it for so long. But sitting here with Alex, I felt that brittle hope stirring in me,

ity atmosphere. "What would happen ... if I

something more hopeful, maybe. "Then I'd say go

t sadness. "You would really thro

th a steady look. "Emma, l

no idea how right he was. I turned my head, my throat res

d and fingers interlaced atop the bench. I knew I could't guarantee anything to him or to myself - no