Chapter 103
The manor was still asleep.
Only the first light of dawn stretched across the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pale gold and soft blue.
Aurora quietly opened the doors leading onto her bedroom balcony.
The cool morning air brushed against her face.
For the first time in days...There were no cries.
No orders. No rushing footsteps. Only silence.
Her eyes immediately drifted to the three large ceramic pots arranged along the balcony rail.
Each one overflowed with carefully tended flowers.
She had placed them herself after returning.
No one questioned why.
To everyone else, they were simply beautiful flowers.
Only Aurora knew they were memorials.
One for Dante.
One for Sarah.
One for Mike.
She slowly walked toward them.
Her fingers gently brushed across the petals of the Forget-me-not.
"Dante..."
The name escaped her lips so softly it was almost carried away by the wind.
A trembling smile appeared.
"I keep coming back to you whenever I don't know what to do."
She laughed quietly.
"It isn't very fair, is it?.. You don't even get to answer."
Her smile disappeared.
She lowered herself onto her knees before the flower pots.
The polished stone beneath her felt cold.
"So..." she whispered, "...is this my fault?"
The question lingered in the morning air.
No answer came.
Aurora stared at the flowers.
"If I hadn't changed history...If I hadn't interfered...Would Turner still be safe?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"What if the mine wasn't supposed to collapse? What if trying to save one future.....created another tragedy?"
Her shoulders began to tremble.
"I wanted to save everyone."
She covered her face with both hands.
"But every time I change something......someone else suffers."
Her breathing became uneven.
"I don't know if I'm making this world better......or worse."
The tears she had held back for four endless days finally escaped.
She looked toward Sarah's flowers.
"I promised I'd keep living."
Then toward Mike's.
"I promised I'd use this third chance wisely."
Finally...
Her gaze returned to Dante.
"But what if I wasn't supposed to have one?"
The words broke something inside her.
She bowed her head.
"What if all of this......is because of me?"
The balcony remained silent.
Only the gentle rustling of leaves answered her.
Then...
A memory surfaced.
Not from this world.
From another life.
She was sitting outside an operating theatre.
Her scrubs were stained with blood.
A young patient had died despite every effort she had made.
Aurora had cried until she couldn't breathe, "I failed."
Dante had quietly sat beside her.
He hadn't argued.
He hadn't offered empty comfort.
He simply took her hand, "Aurora."
"I wasn't good enough."
He gently shook his head, "No."
"But she died."
"I know."
She remembered looking at him with tear-filled eyes.
"It hurts."
His smile had been small, "It should."
She frowned, "What?"
"If the day comes when losing a patient doesn't hurt......that's the day you should stop being a doctor."
He squeezed her hand.
"A doctor doesn't choose who lives. A doctor chooses never to stop trying."
She remembered crying even harder, "I can't save everyone."
"No", He smiled, "But you'll save far more people than you'll ever lose....And that's why you keep going."
Aurora closed her eyes.
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
Even now...
Across two different lives...
He was still giving her strength.
A small smile appeared through the tears.
"You always knew exactly what to say."
She gently rested her hand against the flower pot.
"I still miss you....So much."
The confession barely escaped as a whisper.
"I wish..." , Her voice broke, "I wish you were here."
For several long moments she simply knelt there.
Allowing herself to grieve.
Allowing herself to miss the people she had loved.
Allowing herself to be weak.
Then she slowly wiped away her tears.
"No..." she whispered, "I can't save everyone. But I can keep trying."
She stood.
Her legs still felt unsteady.
Her heart still ached.
Turner was still trapped beneath the mountain.
Her father was still risking his life.
Hundreds of families were still waiting for a miracle.
Nothing had changed.
Except her resolve.
Aurora looked once more at the three flower pots.
"Dante...I'll keep fighting. For you, For Sarah, For Mike.....And for every family still praying for someone to come home."
The morning breeze stirred the flowers gently.
Aurora smiled through her tears.
"Thank you..."
Then she turned away from the balcony.
There were still people waiting for her.
And she refused to let them face this tragedy alone.
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