'Til Death Do Us Part [ Editing ]

Chapter Twenty Four

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Luke walked through the hallway of Mrs. Harriet Okafor's apartment, hands in his pockets, dark eyebrows furrowed and lips in a thin line. He kept his head downwards as he walked on until he stopped at the entrance of the woman's room that was open. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with a blank look on her face that lacked make up, while her hair looked like she had not taken care of it in days since the death of her daughter.

The cop ran his fingers through his dark hair and knocked on the door, causing the woman to flinch slightly before she nodded in response. The man walked in, and stood a few feet away from her with his hands still in his pockets.

"How are you, ma'am?" He asked, and cleared his throat.

She shrugged. "I don't even know. I just feel empty, like the point where I am right now, is meaningless. I lost my husband and now I have lost my only child. What's the point in me still been alive, and having to go back into realizing that the people who you really cared about are dead."

"You don't have to say that, Ma'am. Fate has a very strange way of getting what it wants. The only reason you're alive is to be strong. I'm sure, they won't be happy to know that you are hung up on them," he said, and hesitantly sat down beside the woman who rolled her eyes at his statement with a humorless chuckle.

"It's easy for you to say, Luke. Have you lost someone so close to your heart before?" She asked, and watched him think for a moment, his eyes harboring several emotions. "I think not."

Luke nodded. "Yes. I have actually lost someone so close to my heart. I lost my wife and unborn child in an accident, so yes."

She gasped. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry for saying that. I didn't-"

"Yeah, you didn't know. I'm not offended, and what I was trying to say is that, you should be strong with the whole news. Making yourself remember how hard everything is right now won't bring them back but moving on stage by stage goes a long way, that all you ever do is look back at what you did with them and you end up laughing."

Harriet stared at Luke who looked like he was remembering all the times with his wife, but his body was relaxed while his eyes held a lot. She smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you," she whispered, and Luke nodded.

"You're welcome," he replied with a soft smile.

Someone knocked on the door, which had them simultaneously look up to see Gloria in a black dress, and lace head piece. She smiled ruefully at them and they knowingly nodded in unison.

"Time to go," Luke said, and helped the older woman up. He picked up her black shawl off the bed, and handed it to her before they walked out of the room.

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Friends, family, and a few work mates, stood in black outfits as the preacher preached on while they stood quietly. They kept their saddened eyes on the closed coffins in the center of the two opened grounds.

Harriet was teary eyed, Gloria kept a stoic expression and Luke's expression stayed blank as the man preached on. After a few minutes, each and everyone of them, starting from Harriet, stepped forward and dropped white rose flowers on the coffins that laid in the dug up grounds. They stood aside as a singer sang a heart wrenching fair well song which made Harriet cry out once again.