Epilogue

JC made his way slowly down the rocky embankment, a bouquet of roses clutched tightly in his left hand. Loose gravel slid down the sharp incline causing him to lose his balance and slip several inches. With a smile, he recovered his footing and continued down to the water's edge. Lowering himself to his knees, he bowed his head in silent prayer.

A year had transpired since he'd last stood here alongside Hannah's family and friends to say his goodbyes. With words of love and remembrance spilling from their lips, JC watched as her ashes were feathered across the pond. Closing his eyes, he could almost hear her laughter dancing around them as her essence was scattered on the wind.

One by one, Hannah's loved ones drifted away until only he remained. Until the sun slipped below the horizon, he sat on the shore as he thought back on the time they had shared. He could still picture her as she'd been the first time he had seen her. Her inviting smile...the loving warmth that she seemed to radiate from within. Her appreciation of life and beauty were insurpassable. In the brief eighteen months that they had shared, Hannah taught him more about living than he'd learned in his twenty-five years of life.

In the eighteen months that he had held her heart, JC knew he'd loved enought to fill a thousand lifetimes. Whatever doubts or regrets he had regarding his life, he had none when it came to her. Every day that they shared, he lived to give her love. Looking back on the last night they shared, he knew that he had at least succeeded in that.

As JC opened his eyes and gazed out over the water's surface, his mind drifted back in time to the final night he held her in his arms. The last time that he ever tasted the sweetness of her kiss. The last time that he ever felt her breathing her words of love deep inside his soul. Even now, he could hear every word she spoke, her breath still warm against his skin. Sighing deeply, her words came flooding back, drowing him in the memories.

"You know what, Joshua? It all makes sense to me now...."

JC smiled, his fingers combing her silky hair as Hannah lay her cheek against his bare chest. Her fingers traced the lines of his stomach in thought, sending chills down his spine. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tightly, pulling her as close to him as humanly possible. Closing his eyes, he sighed contently as her familiar scent enveloped him.

"What makes sense, Angel?"

"Me, my disease...everything. I understand now."

"Do you want to give me a little insight as well?"

Hannah turned her head and looked up at him.  "Everything that has happened in my life, they were all steps on the path that led me to you. It wasn't a coincidence that I was at that hospital at the very moment that you arrived. It was our destiny, Joshua. I never expected to find someone like you. All I've ever wanted was to know what it was like to be in love....To know what it was like to have somone love you unconditionally and endlessly...To experience what it was like to speak volumes with someone in silence because of the bond that you share. You're all that and more."

JC's eyes filled with tears as she crawled up to lay her head on the pillow beside his. His heart beat rapidly against his chest as her eyes searched his intently. His arms encircled her waist and held onto her, afraid that at any moment the angels she left behind in Heaven would come to reclaim her. Laying the palm of her hand against his face, she continued.

"You've given me more that I ever thought possible. You've fulfilled every dream I've ever had, Joshua. So many people live their entire lives without ever knowing what love is, or what it is worth. To hold you in my arms for just one night...I'd give up the promise of eternal life. It's a trade I make eagerly. A life of twenty four years in which I was blessed enough to know your love....it's worth more than one of a hundred years without you by my side...You're the greatest gift God could've given me."

JC sighed as he tossed the roses one by one into the water. As each flower hit the water, ripples spread out over the smooth surface shattering the calm. An autumn breeze swept across the ground, sending the brightly colored leaves which covered the earth into flight. Smiling, JC couldn't help by see the world through Hannah's eyes. At this moment, she would probably say something about the colors of the wind leaving it's impression on God's ever growing canvas. Only because of her, had he learned to appreciate the beauty of God's simple gifts. The changing colors of the autumn leaves..the dewdrops on the petals of the roses in the early morning...the soothing song of the crickets that lulled him to sleep each night. A tear trickled down his cheek slowly as he dropped the last rose into the pond.

"You were the gift......"