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Tears spill down my cheeks as I accept her hug. She squeezes tightly, and I breathe in her Jasmine perfume, the same perfume she spritzed on me when she’d helped me get ready for her engagement party because I’d been too weak to do it myself.
The memory sends more grief washing over me, and my throat tightens, burning from tears I refuse to shed.
Amber releases me and steps back.
“When do you leave?” Heather asks, after pulling me into an embrace of her own.
“As soon as I book my flight.” I release her then look up at Wally.
He’d only known me a month before he practically adopted me as a granddaughter. Now, he’s the closest thing to a father figure I’ve ever had.
“Thank you for everything, Wally.” I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his chest as he runs a hand over my back.
“You are fire, girl. And fire is indestructible.”
It’s the same thing he’s said to me before every doctor’s appointment over the last year that I’ve known him. Ironic, really, that my name is Ember. Because it’s exactly how I feel. A spark that’s slowly and steadily losing its luster. Soon, it’ll go out, and so will I.
Pulling away, I wipe my face and force a smile. “I better go get packed.”
“We’re praying for you, Ember. Praying for a miracle.”
“Thanks, guys.” I turn away and head for the elevator, hitting the button for the seventh floor before anyone can say anything else. My life has never been easy, but I’ve always gone with the flow, rolled with the punches. I didn’t complain, didn’t argue, just looked out for myself because Ialwaysbelieved something better was waiting around the corner.
But I just don’t have it in me to hope for the best anymore.
Maybe this is my fate. My destiny.
If there’s one thing I truly believe about destiny, it’s that you can’t change it. Whatever is meant to happen will—inevitably—happen, no matter how hard you try to fight it.
And I’m so damn tired of fighting.
