Chapter 35 #5
Orm closed her eyes.
Because she knew.
She knew better than anyone how deeply Lingling had loved her.
She knew how much pain Lingling must have endured to walk away.
How many tears she must have cried alone.
How many nights she must have wished to come back...
Only to force herself not to.
Orm slowly lowered her head.
Tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
"...You're right."
Her voice was barely audible.
"I'll wait."
A bittersweet smile appeared through her tears.
"I've always waited for her..."
"I can wait a little longer."
—
Months slowly slipped by.
Life continued moving forward, one quiet day at a time.
Sean's treatment finally began showing remarkable progress.
His body accepted the bone marrow transplant.
The bruises that had once covered his fragile skin gradually disappeared.
The constant exhaustion no longer weighed down every step he took.
The hospital visits became less frequent.
The doctors smiled more often whenever they entered his room.
Each smile carried another piece of hope.
His strength returned slowly.
Painfully slowly.
But steadily.
One day...
He managed to walk across the apartment without needing anyone to support him.
Another day...
He picked Liam up into his arms for the very first time.
His hands trembled.
Not because they were weak anymore...
But because he was overwhelmed.
He stared at the little boy sleeping peacefully against his chest.
Tears quietly rolled down his face.
"You've gotten so big..."
he whispered.
Liam stretched his tiny fingers and wrapped them around Sean's thumb.
Such a simple gesture.
Yet it completely shattered what remained of Sean's composure.
He cried openly.
Not from sadness.
But from gratitude.
Eventually...
Laughter returned to the apartment.
Not the loud, carefree laughter of someone untouched by suffering.
This laughter was quieter.
Gentler.
It belonged to a man who had looked death in the eyes...
And somehow found his way back.
The pale complexion that had haunted him for years slowly disappeared.
Warmth returned to his skin.
Color returned to his cheeks.
Life returned to his eyes.
Hope returned to their home.
Meanwhile...
Liam grew into a bright, healthy little boy.
His laughter became the heartbeat of the apartment.
Every giggle echoed through every room like sunlight breaking through years of endless rain.
He babbled nonstop.
He laughed at absolutely everything.
He clapped excitedly every time Sean entered the room.
He reached toward him with both tiny hands as though Sean was the safest place in the entire world.
Sometimes...
Sean would simply sit on the couch while Liam slept peacefully against his chest.
He would gently brush his fingers through the baby's soft hair.
Then whisper the same words over and over...
Like a prayer only heaven could hear.
"Thank you..."
His voice always trembled.
"Thank you for saving me."
Because Liam had done exactly that.
Without ever realizing it...
The tiny boy had given a dying man a reason to fight.
A reason to wake up.
A reason to believe tomorrow was worth seeing.
Life slowly settled into a peaceful rhythm.
The apartment became filled with bedtime stories...
Tiny socks scattered across the floor...
Baby toys...
Milk bottles...
Sleepless nights...
And laughter.
So much laughter.
But no matter how beautiful life became...
There was one ache that never left Orm.
She became an incredible mother.
She smiled every single day for Liam.
She celebrated every tiny milestone.
His first laugh.
His first tooth.
His first word.
She laughed alongside Sean during family dinners.
She thanked God every night that he had survived.
She gave everything she had to the people she loved.
But every evening...
When the apartment finally became quiet...
When Liam had fallen asleep...
When the lights were dim...
Orm would walk toward the bedroom window.
She would sit there alone beneath the moonlight.
In her hands...
She held the same photograph she had kept on her bedside table for years.
A picture of her...
And Lingling.
Taken on one of the happiest days of their lives.
Before fate had rewritten everything.
Orm gently traced Lingling's smiling face with her fingertips.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
Then another.
"I'm still here..."
she whispered into the silence.
"I never left."
She closed her eyes, imagining that somewhere across the world...
Under the same night sky...
Lingling might be looking at the moon too.
Still carrying pieces of her.
Still remembering.
Still loving.
Orm smiled through her tears.
"When the time is right..."
"...please find me again."
Her voice cracked.
"So we can rewrite our story."
"So we can finally have the lifetime we were supposed to have."
She pressed the photograph against her heart.
Outside...
The moon quietly watched over two souls separated by thousands of miles...
Yet forever connected by a love that neither time, nor distance, nor fate had ever been able to erase.