Chapter 13
“Stella!”
Blake’s voice broke as he rushed to her bedside, watching the heart monitor go flat.
Danny checked his watch, voice shaking.
“January 10th, 3:32 PM. Patient Stella Parker has… passed away.”
“She was… twenty-six years old.”
Blake dropped to his knees beside her bed, eyes red and raw.
He gripped her cold hand, whispering hoarsely. “No more pain, Stella. You don’t hurt anymore.”
She was so fucking skinny, nothing like the girl who used to laugh and run around campus, always lighting up every room.
Blake suddenly realized he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her actually smile.
Riley and Blake took care of everything together.
They dressed Stella simply-not in some funeral outfit, but in her favorite white sundress. Her face looked peaceful for the first time in forever.
On the drive to the crematorium, Riley suddenly spoke up. “Blake, do you know what Stella’s bucket list was?”
3lake didn’t answer.
Wiley was crying nonstop. “She wanted to eat that crazy spicy chicken place one last time. She wanted to see fireworks on New Year’s again. And she said…”
Her voice cracked and she had to pause, wiping snot and tears all over her face.
She said she wanted to watch you get married.”
Blake still said nothing. He was digging his nails so deep into his palms-he refused to lose it in front of Stella.
He knew. He fucking knew everything. She left so he could have a new life.
He also knew when she pretended Danny was her boyfriend, she was just trying to get him to back off.
But Stella, how could life without you ever be called a “new life”?
You shoved me away saying you didn’t love me anymore. You vanished for five fucking years without a word. Then you showed up dying and expected me to ust… what? How was I supposed to deal with that? How the hell was I supposed to be okay with it?
During the cremation, Riley held tight to that photo-Stella frozen in time, always young.
In the freezing waiting room, you could hear people crying and the low hum of the crematory ovens.
Blake’s stomach dropped when the robotic voice announced: “Cremation of Stella Parker is complete. Please collect remains.”
Stella fit into a small box now.
The urn was pink-her favorite color. They’d found her a spot at the cemetery on the south side, close to where the sunflowers bloom every summer.
Stella always ran cold, and she died in the dead of winter.
Riley carried the urn and wouldn’t let Blake touch it.
Back at his apartment from the cemetery, Blake pulled out that old photo from his wallet-taken on New Year’s Eve when they were twenty. She’d written “Blake
& Stella Forever” on a balloon.
He sank into his couch in the dark, not bothering to turn on any lights.
16-77
He remembered that winter when she
“Blake, where do you think balloons go when they fly away?”
He’d gently played with her hair and kissed her forehead.
“Probably up to the stars.”
Stella had looked sad then. “I read online that if heaven sees your wish, the balloon loses air and falls back down.”
Now Stella was a star. She could finally see all the balloons floating up to the sky.
His phone suddenly buzzed.
It was the station calling.
‘Blake, remember that guy who was harassing Stella? We caught him. Get down here ASAP.”
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