ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

56. BELLADONNA

❤︎ Anjali ❤︎

He is so surprised to see me standing there.

"Anjali! How do you know Beth's last words? I've never told them to anyone, even to my parents."

I look at him gently and tell him what I discovered.

"Beth just told me to tell you."

"I didn't come to Weatherford to find you. Destiny brought me here. I had a heart implant two years ago. Without a new heart, I could have died before reaching twenty years old."

"Two weeks ago, the parents of the donor contacted me. So this morning, I took a flight to Dallas to meet with them. I just went to visit their house and saw you with Beth in the photo. It is Beth's heart who saved me. Because of her, I am still alive."

"Do you remember how my heart beat so fast every time I looked at you? I always wondered why. Now I know why. It is Beth who is still in love with you, and she wants to be with you. You don't need to try to forget her. As long as you are with me, she is always with you. She loves you as much as I love you."

"These three weeks have been the worst time of my life. I don't know how to live without you. Please come back to me and never let me go!"

I rush to hold him in my arms.

He whispers in my ear.

"I remember you. You came back for me."

"I always wondered about your final words and tried to figure out what you really meant it. You are finally here with me."

He caresses my hair while holding me tight in his arms. Then he coughs violently and covers his mouth with his right hand. His hand is covered with blood, and he falls to the ground. I quickly hold him in my arms and scream with fear.

"Leo! What happened to you? Are you all right?"

He looks at me with glassy eyes, and tears flow from his eyes. He slowly brings his left hand close to me and opens it to show several blackberries in his palm. I look at him and ask.

"What are they, Leo?"

He faintly smiles and tells me.

"I swallowed Belladonna."

I don't understand what he said. So I ask him again.

"What is Belladonna?"

His eyes are no longer looking at me. They are looking through me.

"It is a poisonous plant. I swallowed it to be with you because I missed you so much. I wanted to be close to you, Beth."

His eyes are no longer able to stay focus, and his pupils are dilating. I am about to lose him again and scream to him with despair.

"Leo, you can't leave me here. I came back all the way to find you. You just can't leave me here. You just can't."

I sob so violently while holding him tightly in my arms. I need to be doing something, something to save him. But nothing comes to my mind. Then my instinct takes me over.

I force his mouth to open wide and intuitively put my finger in his throat. His throat contracts against my finger, and he gags. He unconsciously moves his arms to take my hand away from his mouth. I persist with all my strength to keep my body in place.

He vomits again. He throws up what he swallowed, the deadly blackest liquid. I keep pushing my finger in his throat until he is no longer able to vomit anything.

He stops moving.

He stops moving completely.

His face becomes starkly pale.

It is almost ghostly white.

He stops breathing.

His eyes are completely dilated.

That beautiful blue eyes, I love so much, are without any sign of life.

I slowly put my hand on his cheek, and a faint coldness of his skin freezes me.

I hold him in my arms and cry out loud by calling his name.

I don't believe this. I don't want to believe this.

I finally came back for him to lose him again.

I don't believe this.

I don't.