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As if understanding my every word, the little creature spreads its wings and takes flight, disappearing among the flowers.

I watch it go, then wrap my arms around my knees again and rest my chin on them. After a moment, I turn my head toward the glass doors behind me, stealing a glance at the patients and staff milling about in the common room.

Nobody seems to be paying me any attention.

Good.

I spit out the pills I’d been hiding into my palm and toss them toward the farthest rosebush, adding them to the growing collection already buried there.

“I saw that.”

My heart gives a familiar little leap at the sound of Milo’s voice. I immediately lower my feet to the ground and straighten up, just as he takes a seat beside me, his knee brushing against mine as he settles back against the bench.

“I was starting to think you wouldn’t come today,” I admit.

“I’ll always come for you.” He smiles at me tenderly.

I take a moment to drink him in. He’s just as handsome as I remember, with those beautiful kind eyes that have always seemed to see straight into my soul and the same unruly hair I’ve spent half my life wanting to run my fingers through.

“I miss you,” I whisper.

“I’m here, Max. I’m not going anywhere.”

“That’s not true.” I glance toward the hospital looming behind us. “You can’t be with me in here.”

“This is just a small bump in the road for us, sweetheart. What’s a few years when we have eternity?”

I let out a humorless laugh. “Sounds like forever until that happens.”

“It’ll come sooner than you think.” He reaches for my hand, threading his fingers through mine. “But in the meantime, you need to get better.”

“Why?” I ask, looking down at our interlocked hands. “What’s the point?”

“Because the world is less without you in it.” His voice grows thick with emotion. “And I can’t bear to see you wasting away in this place. Please, Max. For me.”

I lift my gaze to his.

“For you?”

“For me,” he repeats.

“And you’ll be there afterward? When I get better, I mean?”

“There isn’t a world where I wouldn’t be by your side.” His thumb brushes over my knuckles. “You’re my girl, Max. Where you go, I go, remember?”

“Okay. I’ll take my meds then.”

“Promise?”

“Yes,” I lie.

Seemingly reassured by my answer, Milo reaches up and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I follow the path of his fingers with my own, pressing them against the spot where his touch lingers.

“It’s you and me, Max. It was always supposed to be you and me. There is no other ending for us but that one.”

A tear slips down my cheek, but I don’t bother wiping it away.

“Max and Milo,” I whisper.