Page 46 of Between

This was an extremely heavy decision, and he was sitting here, covering all his bases without a single stutter.

And all I could think about was the fact that my Uncle Russ was once here, sitting in this room, having this same conversation.

Chills immediately ran through my body at the vision.

“That’s all I want,” Ms. Scott cried softly. “I want to be with him.”

“You will,” Caius replied, that same empathy still in his tone from earlier. “I’ll make sure of it. You have my word.”

With her trust in him, Ms. Scott picked up her pen, signed her name at the bottom of the page, and exhaled. Caius took the paper and placed it on top of a manilla folder.

There was a heavy silence in the room as they both paused, anticipating what was next.

“Are you ready?” he asked, and the woman nodded.

I sat in my chair, confused as to what was happening. There was more? Something else was needed besides her signature?

Caius reached into one of his drawers, pulled out an empty vial, and popped the lid off. Along with that, he grabbed a pocketknife and flipped it open, revealing a clean, shiny blade.

My eyes widened at the items.

Oh, fuck. Oh, shit, shit, fuck. I know where this is going.

Caius stood and walked around his desk, making his way between the desk and the woman. After placing a towel on her lap, he leaned back against the wooden frame, and for a split second, my mind wandered. The way the muscles in his armstightened, the way his chest pressed against his button-down shirt, and the way his large frame was so safe and protective had me trailing out of thought.

But then, when the woman lifted her hand to Caius, and he tenderly grabbed her palm, I was right back to the moment.

She remained sitting as he pressed the knife to her skin and made a diagonal line. Bright red blood instantly pooled in her palm, and her hand cradled the liquid. Caius tilted her hand with the vial underneath and caught most of the blood. A few drops dripped onto the towel, but neither one of them seemed to notice. The vial was about half full before Caius stopped and screwed the lid on.

Then, he reached behind him and grabbed the folder and paper she just signed. He held it to her, presenting it to her, and she looked up at him.

With a slow blink, a nod, and unspoken words, Caius reassured her that she was okay.

Ms. Scott placed her bloody handprint on the paper, sealing herself and her fate, then wrapped her hand in the towel.

Then, Caius surprised me. He kneeled down to Ms. Scott’s level and looked her in the eye. There were glistening tears that were teetering over the edge of her eyelids, waiting to fall.

“Ms. Scott,” he began, his tone filled with a new compassion. “You will be honored here, as well as your husband. I promise.”

She patted his hand and nodded, understanding the decisions that were made. I looked to both of them, vowing internally to never, ever forget this moment.

Celeste

After a few more minutes, Ms. Scott left. Caius ensured she got to her car okay, closed the office door, and locked it. I stood up from the chair, and he looked to me with exhaustion on his face.

“That meeting was not supposed to go past 2:30.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Caius rounded his desk and sorted through the new items from Ms. Scott. He picked up the brand-new vial of blood and walked over to one of the boxes on the bookshelf. Lifting the lid of the box open, he placed the glass in a holder, along with a handful of other vials.

I watched with wide eyes, realizing that all those vials,that box,was full of people’s blood.

Those were all people who wanted to be here when they died.

There were only about twenty other vials, but as I scanned the rest of the bookshelf, there were probably ten more boxes. There wasn’t room for any more, leaving me to wonder if there were more boxes somewhere else.

My chest let out a quiet, quick heave as I realized howrealthis was.

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