Chapter 309: Ascension X
It was long overdue. The reunion I'd wanted, though not entirely the way I'd imagined it. Free of distraction, the presence of others, some crisis or conflict pulling attention away from what mattered.
There was a point in my life that this place was my refuge. The long chaise was soft and deep, perfect for uninterrupted naps in the light of the series of tall windows that spanned the western side of the room. Warm rugs that made traversing the cold floor trivial in the winter months, and planter boxes on the balcony that cherished all manner of color in the spring.
And of course, the books.
I traced the shelves with my fingertips, eyes roaming their many titles. Some she'd read, aloud, spectacles low on her nose as she kept one arm wrapped around my shoulders. Others I'd read to her, sometimes when I wasn't even sure she was awake, her skin pallid and grey.
And there were more still, that I'd stolen in here to read after she was gone.
Gods, I'd missed her.
I felt her presence. It was barely detectable, a whisper of kindness in the center of so much pain.
"Were you ever really sick?" I asked.
Maybe not the best start to the conversation. But it was an incongruity, and depending on how she answered, a cruelty I couldn't trace to its design.