Chapter 5

The cake in McCoy’s hand dropped to the floor with a splat.

Before he could squeeze out a word, the call was cut off.

A text with an address arrived promptly.

Hearing the commotion, Raleigh and Teddy rushed over.

They noticed the cake lying on the ground, smashed.

Teddy teased him.

“You’re so silly, Daddy. You can’t even hold a cake right.”

McCoy lost his balance.

Flustered, Raleigh went up and helped him to his feet.

“McCoy, are you alright? Press the call bell, Teddy!”

Teddy scrambled onto the bed and hit the emergency buzzer frantically.

The voices around him sounded distant and muffled. McCoy barely managed to steady himself and pull himself back to reality.

He stumbled out the door.

Raleigh cried out to him in the back.

Not once did he look back, for his mind was consumed by Moira.

Out of the hospital, McCoy put the pedal to the metal and sped toward the funeral home.

He didn’t care about the red lights he ran through along the way.

His palms on the steering wheel were slick with nervous sweat.

McCoy silently hoped and prayed in his mind.

If only it were a lie or a joke.

For all he knew, Moira was just sulking. She probably staged the whole thing just to scare him.

Yes, that had to be it.

Moira was free from her illness. She couldn’t possibly die.

McCoy had not fulfilled her 1,000 wishes yet.

He hadn’t taken her traveling, nor had he taken her fine dining.

Moira wouldn’t have left the world just like that.

The car screeched to a halt right outside the funeral home.

McCoy hurried inside.

He desperately prayed that the staff would look at him and say with a smile, “Just kidding! Mrs. Evans got us all in on it.”

In reality, the staff member merely gave him a solemn look.

Without a word, the staff member led McCoy to a body draped in a white sheet.

“Mr. Evans, this is Mrs. Moira Evans here.

“We’ll proceed with the funeral arrangements according to her wishes. If everything looks correct, I just need you to sign here.”

McCoy’s feet felt heavy as he forced himself to pull back the sheet.

Underneath was Moira’s ghastly pale face.

The white sheet slipped to the ground.

McCoy’s legs gave, and he took a tumble along with the sheet.

All his strength left him.

One minute ago, Moira was alive and kicking, but now, she lay peacefully in a mortuary.

With trembling fingertips, McCoy cautiously brushed her face, reaching out to feel for her breath.

It was real.

His worst nightmare came true.

Moira was dead.

Everything that followed was a blur in McCoy’s memory.

He only remembered the rain when he exited the funeral home.

Rain pattered against the small box of Moira’s belongings in his arms.

McCoy shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around the box.

The box was ice-cold.

Moira had always hated the cold. Whenever they met, she would slip her hands beneath his coat, warming them against his body.

She would always grin whenever McCoy gasped and hissed at the chill.

That sly grin lit up her face.

Now, he held her close in his arms.

However, the box was cold against his chest. No matter how tightly he held, it never warmed.

McCoy wandered down the street in a daze.

With Moira gone, he didn’t even know where to go.

He walked aimlessly for what felt like hours before a black umbrella suddenly appeared over his head.

Raleigh held the umbrella while clutching Teddy’s hand, her eyes tearful.

“McCoy, Teddy and I have been looking for you. What’s wrong?”

Teddy was in tears.

“Daddy, don’t stay in the rain. Mommy said you’ll catch a cold if you get rained on.”

A shudder ran through McCoy. At last, tears spilled down his face.

Raleigh was taken aback.

She had known McCoy for ages. He was never one to lose his cool under pressure.

This was the first time she had ever seen him break down.

They were both caught off guard. Raleigh fumbled around her bag for tissues to wipe his tears.

McCoy’s stifled sobs drifted to her ears.

“Moira’s… She’s dead.”

Raleigh’s mind went blank.

Moira was… dead?