"The sunflowers are blooming again. They're so warm, like the heat of your palm. I'll wait for you, no matter how long. But please, don't make me wait too long, okay?"
How much time had slipped away?
A month? Two?
Vesper had long since stopped counting.
Then, on an afternoon when sunlight pooled like liquid gold, she sat by his bedside as usual, her voice soft as she read from a poetry collection.
Sunlight danced across her lowered lashes, painting delicate shadows beneath them.
Just as she whispered the line, "Through all the dark nights, you are my only light," the sheets rustled faintly. The fingers of the hand she held twitched.
Her voice died mid-word.
Her breath caught in her throat as her heart threatened to pound straight through her ribs.
She did not dare blink. Her gaze
