GOLDWING (ing version)

epilogue

VICTORIA'S POV

I found myself in the garden of my house, looking at the bright green of the grass, the barbecue wall all scratched with coloured pencils. The flowers Ella had planted at daycare didn't lose their brightness, even though it wasn't spring. I often saw Mia and Eleven lying on the roof on their stomachs, which made me question the true abilities of a cat. The book I'd been reading for weeks, Blindness, rests on a table made of splattered wood, Harper's latest work for the publicity of my new clothing collection.

'Love?' I hear, behind me. 

'It's time to go.'

'Are you sure? I love seeing it here. And besides, Henry's still at school.'

'Don't worry, Fred's staying with Ella and Amy will be at school in no time. You need to worry less.'

 'Right,' I reply.

'The exams?'

'Here,' says the dark-haired man, showing me a huge binder with them. 

'Daje, Greg's waiting.'

'I thought he'd swapped shifts? Wasn't it Michael?'

'There was some kind of rescue, he had to switch. Ready?'

'Always ready.'

Getting inside that car was familiar to me. It's been almost five months of that. Every week.

Arriving at the venue, my chair is already waiting for me. The staff always keeps my blanket, my favourite snacks. I pick up my book again, while they don't arrive to administer my treatment.

'Everything OK?' my love asks me as he holds me tightly.

'Do you like this bandana?'

'Yes, it has a good elasticity,' I smile. 

'Where did you buy it?'

'It was mum, in Milan.'

'I miss Milan,' I sigh.

 'When is Talia going there again? I need to show her some ideas. Dam?'

'Sorry,'  he says, putting on his glasses. 'I haven't spoken to her yet. They're very busy with the new collection. You'll love it.'

'If only I was alive to see it, right?'

'Don't talk like that. You're strong.'

'Only today's exams will tell us anything....'

'Whatever it is, we have to be brave, okay?' I nod.

The hours pass slowly in a place where everyone is slowly dying. This session was going to be longer, it was scheduled to end at 7pm. I watched the liquid come out of the machine, drip by drip, and almost fell asleep just watching. A while later Raquel arrived, just leaving.

'Victoria de Angelis, in room 16,' I hear the automatic voice say.

I go slowly at the pace I know, clutching my love in my arms. We enter that room, once again, expecting everything or nothing. The strength my feet had was never the same again. I was now walking with a lot of effort, after re-learning how to do it.

'It's back, isn't it?" I ask, seeing the doctor's blank stare.

'I'm sorry.'

I put my head down on my legs, searching for something. Everything was so good, after the surgery, the first rounds of treatments.

'It's a glioblastoma. A type of tumour, which, is aggressive.'

A tumour. Another one. I didn't know if I could take much more.