When It's Time to Move On

Door 3 - Chapter 41 - A Smile Away

"Damn that Auden," sighed Hank as he drove after hearing Harris's account. "You okay by the way?"

"Yeah." Harris concealed, although his insides weren't hurting as much from the cancer as they were from the events that had unfolded.

"Should've gotten yourself checked out...seems to be in demand," Hank muttered to himself.

"What?"

Hank sighed again.

"Sylvia says I should get my – can't believe I'm saying this – my potency level checked. Because we haven't had any luck yet," he said awkwardly. Knowing Hank, this must have been a huge blow to his masculinity.

"There's no shame in it, man."

"I just don't know how I can call up a clinic and ask them to prepare a room for me where I can deposit my...whatever, in a cup. And now I have to go home and have a long chat about this with Sylvia."

"This is the place?" Harris observed a card placed on the dashboard.

"Damn, I shouldn't leave that lying around." Hank looked even more embarrassed. "Please just keep it with you, will you?."

Harris didn't press on further. Roslin had delivered a huge blow to him, and all the strength he had collected was beaten out. Hank seemed relieved when they parted. It was late in the night but Harris had no intention of sleeping. There was somewhere he needed to be the next day.

There were many people at the funeral. He hadn't expected that. As the coffin was lowered into the ground, the mourners grieved. Some sobbed into their tissues, some held onto one another, while some – like Harris – stood back. Evidently, the man had a large number of siblings, but problems with his addiction had caused them to sever ties one by one. But the collective sentiment around the graveyard was one of regret.

"It was his choice," consoled one sister to another, who was sobbing. "We tried helping but he wouldn't accept."

"We shouldn't have let him go," wailed the woman.

Roslin's last words to him flickered in Harris's mind. He looked at the grave. The man had had people willing to support him, but not taken it. Much like Harris himself.

Little by little, the mourners left until only a few people remained in the graveyard. Harris stayed behind. After so long, he had nowhere to be.

Oreo's grave was encapsulated in darkness the first time he'd seen it. Now he appreciated just how small it really was. It was remarkable, he thought, how that space occupied by her had so much impact on the world she had left behind.

Harris had hoped visiting the little girl's grave would have brought him some recompense, but he was wrong. Looking at it, he only felt his sorrow exacerbate, for a life so precious to be snatched away so quickly. He looked at the man beside him who had accompanied him here; he seemed to be on the verge of tears. He considered consoling him but decided against it, not wanting to intrude on his moment with his deceased loved one.

"It's been such a sad day...but I like that," he heard someone speak to his right and looked down to see a young girl pointing at Oreo's gravestone.

– Happiness is just a smile away –

Oriana

"That really is beautiful." Harris hadn't noticed the inscription before.

"It made me smile," said the girl. Harris realized who she was. It was the addict's daughter. He hadn't noticed her at all during the funeral.

"I'm...sorry about your dad," he offered his condolence to the girl.