One year later.
David unexpectedly received a phone call.
The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
“David?”
His body stiffened.
He recognized the voice instantly.
Thomas.
“Thomas?”
“Can we meet?”
David was surprised.
“Why?”
There was a pause.
Then Thomas said quietly:
“It’s about Sophie.”
The words immediately filled him with fear.
Thirty minutes later they sat inside a small diner.
Thomas looked exhausted.
David had never seen him like that.
“What happened?”
Thomas stared into his coffee.
“Sophie is sick.”
The world seemed to stop.
“What?”
Thomas nodded.
“The doctors found something.”
David’s heart pounded.
“Is she okay?”
“We don’t know yet.”
David looked away.
A thousand emotions collided inside him.
Fear.
Concern.
Guilt.
Love.
Thomas suddenly smiled sadly.
“You still care about her.”
David didn’t answer.
Because they both already knew.
PART 6: THE HOSPITAL ROOM
The following week David stood outside a hospital room.
He wasn’t sure if he should enter.
Maybe he had no right.
Maybe he should leave.
Then the door opened.
Sophie appeared.
Her face was thinner.
Her smile was softer.
But her eyes were the same.
The same eyes that once believed in him.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Then Sophie smiled.
“Hi, David.”
His throat tightened.
“Hi.”
She stepped aside.
“You can come in.”
They talked for nearly two hours.
About life.
About mistakes.
About the years between them.
About everything.
And nothing.
Not once did Sophie mention the pain he caused.
Not once did she accuse him.
Her kindness somehow hurt more than anger ever could.
Eventually David asked quietly:
“Why aren’t you angry with me?”
Sophie thought for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“Because carrying anger is heavy.”
She looked out the hospital window.
“And I got tired of carrying things that hurt.”
David looked down.
He wished he had learned that lesson years ago.
