Aviona walked few steps away until she found herself in a garden. She sat on an empty bench and stared at the greenery that was giving her somewhat relief after all that she had gone through. Melvin was still asleep, and Dr. Miles was still with him, so she thought of getting some fresh air to breathe.

"Hey," Martin called and sat himself with the same bench she was sitting. He went to buy some refreshments but when he came back, Aviona wasn't any more in Melvin's room so he went to look for her. He opened a can of fresh juice and gave it to her.

Aviona accepted the can, and quietly drank the juice, still staring at the same greenery.

"Let's leave after you finish that," Martin told her. He knew she was tired and that she needed to have a good sleep to reconfigure herself.

Aviona shook her head in protest with his instructions, "I'm not leaving Martin. I'll stay here, but you should go,"

"Aviona, I know how hard this is for you," He started, "But that boy is dying and there's nothing more you can do but grant his wishes. He wished for you to go on without him that's why he rejected you, so please, come with me and let's move on together from this,"

"I can't," Aviona turned to level Martin's eyes, "I can't leave him, not like this"

"Aviona—"

"Please Martin," Aviona pleaded. "Just let me. I want to stay with him, that is what I want,"

"But Aviona, you don't have a future with that boy,"

"I don't need to have a future with him," Aviona held a deep sigh under Martin's eyes. "All I want is to be with him until I can,"

"But why Aviona? Why?" Martin's expression bore his hurt. "Why are you doing this? You are just torturing yourself,"

"Because I love him," She said without wavering, "I honestly love him and I want to stay here not because I pity him or so. I'll stay here because being with him makes me happy,"

Aviona's confession was like a bucket of cold water thrown upfront at Martin's face. For the first time, he had known defeat and worst, it was with the woman he loved. When he heard the words love coming from her mouth, he knew he cannot anymore do anything.

"You just met him a month ago," Martin said in an attempt to make Aviona changed her mind, "You barely knew him. While me, you were with me for two long years,"

"I know," Aviona agreed, "But that probably how love works. It doesn't count the times you spent together. If your meant to love a person, then you can do nothing but just love him,"

"Like how I fell for you," Martin confessed in a regretful tone. He knew his confession came in late and that it can do nothing now. He should have done it a long time ago, when Aviona was still his.

"Oh Martin, I am soo sorry," Aviona can only do nothing but apologize about it. She lifted her hand to touch the boy's hair, trying to comfort him as much as she could.

"It's alright Aviona," Martin answered in defeat. "I wish I can turn back time but here we are. Perhaps, today wasn't our time,"

"Thank you," That was all that Aviona managed to say and Martin immediately stood then walked away with the broken pieces of his heart. Martin shed a tear and he didn't want Aviona to see that, so he left in haste.

Today, he surrendered the woman he loved the most to someone else.

***

When Melvin woke up, he had seen an angel beside his bed.

"Am I in heaven?" He asked her with a timid smile.

"Unfortunately not, not yet," Aviona's smile was wide when she answered. She was already worried that he will not wake up and so hearing him joke was a good sign "You frightened the heck out of me,"

"I was frightened too," Melvin honestly admitted, "I thought I will die without even saying how sorry I was for what I did,"

"Say no more," Aviona shoved off the bad memory, "I had already forgotten about it,"

"No Aviona," Melvin insisted. By the way Aviona was acting toward him, he knew that she had figured out about his illness already. "Let me apologize. You didn't deserve it, you deserve far more better things than what I did. It's just that as much as I want to give you the world and everything else in this world, I am not capable anymore. I cannot anymore love you with all of my life because my life is ending soon,"

Melvin touched Aviona's reddened cheeks, trying to feel the softness of her pretty face. He knew she had been crying, and it hurts like h.e.l.l to know that he had made her cry once more. He wished he could just take the pain away because seeing her hurt wasn't a pretty sight.

"I don't need you to love me with all of your life," Aviona told him. She had already decided to stay by his side no matter what. Melvin was the first man whom she had fallen deeply in love and even when she knew they were not going to spend the rest of their lives together, she wanted to be there and be a part of his last days.

-Chapter ends here-

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