He Buried Her Ashes

Luca and Jesse came out together. The doctor snatched the cigarette from Austyn’s hand. ‘I can put up with you checking out of the hospital, but must you destroy your own health like this?’ He ground out the cigarette in the ashtray. Austyn’s voice was raspy. ‘Is she awake?’ ‘Yes.’ Austyn moved towards the bedroom, his steps heavy. Luca stopped him. ‘I checked. That woman inside the room is Deborah Connelly. There’s no question about it. She recognised me and Jesse when she woke up.’ Austyn just nodded. ‘She’s fine, by the way. The car didn’t hit her. She just scraped her knees when she fell.’ Austyn said nothing. He stopped outside the door, took a deep breath and pushed it open. The room was dark. The curtains were closed. A single lamp provided warm yellow light. It was dim, but enough for Austyn to make out the face of the woman in bed. She looked just the same as seven years ago. It was almost as if time had no effect on her. The only difference was that she had lost weight. She w