AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are you saying?” Agnes whispered.
“I’m saying I forgive you, Agnes. Can you forgive me in return?”
“There is nothing to forgive.”
A radiant smile broke out over Cora’s face. “Then let’s do this. Let’s try again. Third time lucky, right?”
Agnes was almost as shocked as she had been when that patient attacked Cora. She realized that though she had hoped, she had never truly believed Cora would take her back.
“I’m broken.”
“I know. Give me the pieces, Agnes. We’ll put them together again.”
“I’ll never be the same as I was before.”
“I know that too. I don’t want who you were. I want who you are now. Do you know what kintsugi is?”
Agnes shook her head.
“It’s the practice of repairing broken things with gold. You should look it up. It’s truly beautiful. Like when a plate shatters, you glue it together again, but instead of trying to hide the cracks, you fill them with gold, honoring them and making them into something beautiful.”
Agnes was fighting back tears. “You are worth more than gold, Cora.”
“As are you, my love. I come with my own issues you know—everyone does. It’ll take a while for me to stop worrying that you’re going to leave again. But I know you will fill in my cracks, like I’ll do for yours.”
Agnes nodded. Kintsugi. She’d remember. “I still love Jackie, you know. I love you too, differently, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let her go.”
“I would never ask you to do that. I’ll be there for you, Agnes, on birthdays and anniversaries. We’ll celebrate what you had with Jackie. Those memories are precious, and I would never want you to lose them.”
“We’ll make new memories, though,” Agnes added, repeating the thoughts she’d had while Cora was unconscious.
“We will. Together, we’ll navigate this.”
“Just as soon as you’re better. I know you’ll want to be back to training next week, but this is going to take time.”
Cora rolled her eyes. “I know the recovery time for a brain bleed surgery, Agnes.”
“I’m sure you do, but knowing and actually sticking to it are two different things.”
“Sure.”
“I want you to stay with me while you’re recovering, so I can monitor you.”
Cora chuckled. “You don’t trust me at all, do you?”
“With this? Absolutely not. You’d go back to work within days if I let you.”
“Guilty. I suppose I can’t object to the brilliant doctor who saved my life keeping a close eye on me. We wouldn’t want all your hard work to go to waste, after all.”
“No, we wouldn’t.” Agnes squeezed Cora’s hand and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. Cora returned the kiss slowly, leisurely. They had plenty of time. They had the rest of their lives.
Agnes couldn’t wait.
Epilogue
Cora- Two years later.
Agnes ran a soothing hand down Cora’s back. “All your tests came back positive. You’re going to do great.”
