Chapter 382

DRAKE Edith Elizabeth Ryder departed this world not long after we arrived at the hospital. It was almost as though she was waiting for us to get there, waiting for her daughter to say goodbye. I had fucking tears in my eyes as Amelia spoke her piece, as she poured her heart and soul into those last few moments. Into the last few words she will ever share with her mom. She might not realize it now, but those words will mean something to her later. They will comfort and console her, and she’ll know that her mom died with nothing but the sound of love in her ears. It’s the one blessing of a cursed day. Amelia cried uncontrollably when Edith slipped away, throwing herself across the bed, her head on her mom’s chest as though expecting one final embrace. Still expected the comfort that her mother had always provided. It almost broke me seeing her like that, her grief so raw and brutal. I know that grief, that pain. I have felt the same unfathomable loss. Today, Amelia’s world shifted on its