No More Waiting, She Chooses Love

Chapter 622



I brought Ernest back home, to our homeland.

On an evening as the sun was setting, I buried him in the place we'd planned to grow old together.

After burying Ernest, I didn't immediately leave. Instead, I stayed by his side for thirty-five days, a time our culture refers to as the mourning period.

As a child, I remember my mother once saying that the souls of the departed don't vanish right away. They linger, staying close to their loved ones for a while. Though I wasn't sure if it was true, I chose to believe it. I couldn't bear the thought of Ernest's soul being all alone. So, I stayed, waiting until his soul had moved on before I could bring myself to leave.

During those days, I turned off my phone and lived a simple life, much like Susie Collins used to. I read books, picked flowers to make sun tea, and painted. My subject was always Ernest, reminiscent of how Dustin once filled a room with portraits of me.

I often spoke to Ernest, especially at dawn and dusk.

"Ernest, could you visit me in my dreams tonight to finish the conversations we never had?"Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

"Ernest, I miss you so much. I wish I could hug you, but all I feel is this hollow ache, making me want to join you in another world."

"Ernest, today I found a little bird. It seems lost without its mother. I'm going to try and feed it, maybe help it grow?"

"Ernest..." I talked incessantly, though I never got a response.

Or so I thought. Sometimes, when I was beside him, the breeze brushing against my face felt eerily similar to Ernest's touch.

Time slipped away in this routine of waking and sleeping, and on the final day of the mourning period, I brought fresh flowers to his grave. "Ernest, is this your last day here? Will you be gone tomorrow?"

"Ernest, it's time for me to go, to get back to work and live a normal life. To face everyone I need to and..." I paused, "to find the person who wronged you."

As I spoke, a gust of wind blew, tangling a strand of my hair across my face and lips.

Tears welled up in my eyes. Over the

past

hadn't cried much,

only when the longing for Ernest

became unbearable. Conte

I stroked the tousled hair from my face, "Ernest, is that you? You're here, aren't you?"

The wind seemed to answer.

I stayed late that night and dreamt of Ernest. He came in, calling my name, "Licia... Licia..."

I woke and embraced him tightly, "Ernest, you finally came to see me."

He ran his hand through my hair, back, don't

Lician't stay here by y Licia, you need to find ne

well for both of us."

He spoke a lot, but I couldn't remember all his words. I just held him until the sunlight stung my eyes, and I awoke.

Opening my eyes, I found myself alone, clutching Ernest's pillow, soaked with tears.

It was all a dream, a sweet one with Ernest.

But even a dream was enough because in it, Ernest felt incredibly real.

I watched the sunrise, a smile breaking across my face...

I left, carrying Ernest's hopes with me.

Upon landing, I didn't head straight home but went to see Fanny instead.

et

Unfortunately, she was in surgery again. So, I waited in her recovery room, even flipping through her

medical textbooks while I waited.