NovelBookShe turned her head, her gaze steady and calm. "If the surgery goes perfectly, if the prognosis is good and they manage to remove all the tumor and cancer cells, and if I can walk away whole-that would be the best-case scenario. But the truth is, no one can make that promise." Given how far her illness had progressed, and the earlier miscarriage that forced her into surgery, it was clear she'd been through more than anyone should have to bear.
"Jarrod, you really don't have to-" "I reached out to sspecialists in Europe," he interrupted, his voice low. "They're working together to cup with the best possible treatment plan." He turned away, grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl, and started peeling it with careful, deliberate motions. He didn't look at her, focusing instead on removing every strand of pith from each segment. If you looked closely, though, his hands were trembling ever so slightly.
He'd cut her off before she could finish.
Elodie stared at him, silent. She didn't want to give him false hope-she wasn't even sure what to hope for herself. No matter how she looked at it, the road ahead was bleak.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtIn the best-case scenario, the surgery would be a success. She'd need regular checkups, but her daily life and everything else would go back to normal. But there was also the chance the operation would fail, that complications would cut her life short-to just two, maybe five years.
Or they'd have to remove her uterus entirely. She'd never have children of her own.
Apart from the best outcome, everything else was a burden Jarrod shouldn't have to carry.
She was just being realistic, she told herself. Jarrod wasn't ready to face these possibilities, not really. But with something as serious as this, dangling too much hope was dangerous-for him and for her.
When Jarrod finished peeling the orange, he held out a segment to her lips. She didn't open her mouth, and he simply waited, hand suspended in the air, refusing to withdraw.
It was as if they were locked in a silent standoff.
At last, Elodie let out a slow breath.
"Jarrod, there's a good chance you'll lose both your heart and your money in this. I hate to admit it, but anyone would seeas a burden right now. Your mother was right about one thing-right now, love feels like it can conquer anything. But a few years down the line things might not look the same. I don't want to end up in that kind of one-sided situation, so I think it's best if we-" "Are you really not willing to try with me?" he said, reaching out and gently pressing the orange segment to her lips. "Why not wait twenty, thirty, even fifty years and then askif I regret it?" The tangy sweetness burst in her mouth as she finally accepted the fruit. She looked him straight in the eye, no pretense. "Is any part of this just pity, Jarrod?" For the first time, Jarrod met her gaze head-on.
"I love you," he said, his voice rough with emotion. His dark eyes were rimmed with pain as he looked at her pale, fragile face. He realized that, in a way, he was sick too, hurting so much from seeing her like this that it threatened to break him. Tears stung at the corners of his eyes, beyond his control.
Elodie's breath caught in her throat.
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Those three words rang out so clearly, so unexpectedly that she' forgot how to respond.
"I love you, Elodie. Did you hear me?" he repeated.
Words he'd never managed to say before-words he'd always kept back ve because
of pride, or fear, or sfoolish sense of awkwardness finally ceT out without a trace of hesitation.
He reached for her cold hand, wrapping his warm fingers around it.
"If you don't believe me, then let's just take our time. You can askagain and again, for as long as you need, until you're sure. But you have to fight this, Elodie. Get better, get healthy-otherwise, who am I supposed to prove it to? Who else can I say it to?"
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