Chapter 12
572words
"You’re here alone? Where’s your family? How many times has this happened?"
My stomach dropped. "Doctor, don’t do this to me. Just tell me how long I have left."
I waited for him to crack a smile, maybe even roll his eyes and say I was overthinking. However, his face was all serious, his tone edged with helplessness. "You should call your family."
Family?
Yeah, I didn't exactly have any family.
My parents divorced when I was in middle school. Both were loaded, but neither was interested in keeping me. I always told myself I had the kind of freedom other kids would kill for.
I had a crush on Yannick for years but never dared to say a word. I told myself unspoken love was the best kind—because it let me dream endlessly.
But now?
There was no more pretending this was some cosmic gift. I had not even started living yet, I had not traveled the world, and I had not checked a million things off my list.
I had not been loved.
Tears poured down my face, hot and endless. Then, someone suddenly yelled at me, "Yulia!"
Through the blur, I saw him—Yannick.
Out of breath and panicking, he wrapped his arms around me like he was afraid I would disappear.
He kissed me again and again.
"You’re late," I choked out.
I had always been tough and all alone. Now? Now, I could barely get the words out without breaking.
"Sorry, sorry!" He gasped, still breathless. "As a first-time dad, I got too excited and crashed my car. Then, the cops stopped me—"
Wait.
Dad?
Crashed?
I sniffled, staring at him. It was only then I noticed that he had a scrape on his forehead. He was still drop-dead gorgeous, though.
I cried through the entire prenatal exam and to the city clerk's office. When the clerk stamped our paperwork, she glanced at me. "Miss, are you marrying him of your own free will?"
I hiccupped between sobs and nodded. "Yes."
On the night we got married, I could not sleep. Yannick suddenly opened his eyes, catching me in the dark.
"Do you want a milkshake or a cake?" he asked, totally serious.
I shook my head. "Clam chowder or roast ham?"
I shook my head again.
He narrowed his eyes. "No way. Not until after the baby’s born."
Wait, what? Where was his mind going?!
I hesitated before saying, "Yannick, I had a dream. I dreamed I had brain cancer and that I was dying. That was a dream… right?"
He pulled me close and kissed my forehead. "It was just a dream."
"But in that dream… I tied you up and—"
His eyes darkened. "Oh? You dined and dashed, huh?"
He murmured, his voice low, "Yulia, so… you don’t plan on sleeping tonight?"
The shadows on the wall flickered. The room was filled with breathless laughter, whispered names, and the kind of love that left no space for fear.
And just before I drifted off, I heard him say it—again and again. "I love you, Yulia."
…
On the day Yulia died, Yannick activated a time-reversal system. He went back to the moment she had needed him most. This time, he would not lose her.
