Page 55 of Where We Fall

Dexter chuckled and stopped short. His stitches probably ached. He’d lost so much blood that he had to take it easy since the…accident.

I didn’t know what else to call it.

“Don’t. He’d find some way to make fun of me for it,” he said.

I sighed and walked closer to the grave, running my fingers over the headstone. “First chance I get, I’ll bring you here. You just have to worry about getting better, okay?”

“Okay, Blue.”

When we hung up, I sat on the cold ground and talked to Ralph, telling him all about the Angel of Death and life and love. I told him I was finally finding my way and that Tracey still cries every time she talks about him. I told him I was adopting Phoebe and that Dylan loved following his sister around. I told him everything I knew he would’ve wanted for us.

To some, our story would be a sad one—full of heartbreak and missed opportunities. Maybe Dexter and I made a lot of mistakes, but this was our love story. I wouldn’t take back the tears I’d shed over him, the moments I wondered how I would go on without him. The moments we nearly missed each other. Because we hadn’t.

We hadn’t missed each other.

Millions of people do every day, but Dexter and I had been right on time.

There were billions of people in the world, but I’d found my person.

One day, I’d come back and live another adventure. My end would likely bring sorrow, but I would have another turn.

I’d find him again.

I would have another chance, and I only hoped to be even better next time.

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My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,

that you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,

in life after life, in age after age, forever.

— Rabindranath Tagore, “Unending Love”

Epilogue

DEXTER

Everyone likesto warn you about time passing. They like to tell you to live in the moment and fill your heart with fear because not a moment is guaranteed.

I chose to live differently. And I chose to help Noa live differently. She deserved more than to tell me she loved me with nearly every breath because she was unsure of her next.

She deserved to only know happiness.

With every day that passed, I made Noa surer of our love until I recognized peace in her eyes. Gone was the quick flicker to the nearest exit. Because I learned that Noa would always want to leave me before I left her.

We watched Dylan and Phoebe grow. We gave them another sister and a brother. We watched them have their own children and create their own love stories. And every step of the way, we reminded them that love could heal all.

They say that right before you die, your life flashes before your eyes.

They’re wrong.

In that moment, I didn’t see it coming. I stood still in shock—waiting. But instead of the impending doom, I saw Noa. Every time, in every life, I’d see her. Annabelle in Greg’s life, Noa in Dexter’s. It was all the same. We were always supposed to come back.

I knew, no matter what, I would come back and find her. Because her heart housed the very best pieces of me. Noa was my Heaven on Earth—my nirvana—and I wasn’t afraid.

“It’s so very good to see you, old friend,” the Angel of Death said.

I smiled, not minding the loss of most senses. I was missing her already. But this time, I let her fade. Because she deserved to be won, again and again, in each life, forever.