Physical pain plagued Sloane, and it brought her immeasurable joy. Alive again! The doctors were more right than they knew when they said Cecelia was a miracle.
Cool, thin sheets rubbed new skin as she shifted in bed. Controlling a new body felt like the time she'd unknowingly eaten a pot brownie before running a 5k. Legs had hit the pavement, arms had swung to keep the momentum, but she'd felt disconnected from her limbs. She'd only had so much control before the universe took over. The universe wasn't helping her now.
Hopefully, time would help connect her to her new body. She would have to thank Molly–if she ever saw her again.
Hopefully, Molly would find someone to live in too, but without taking 'opportunities'. Sloane knew she'd melded first because in some aspects she was stronger than Molly. Though there was also a part of her that knew Molly wanted to be sure it would work.
It would be all for naught if Francesca wouldn't believe her, though. Not running away had been a good start.
"…Other than that fucking woman–who still gets to me. They were so stupid! We are perfect for each other, and here you are questioning that it's me! You have to see it; you know it's true. I'm Sloane! I can explain, but first, you have to believe me," she'd said. Instantly, she regretted bringing the woman up. They were past it.
Francesca's legs were tense, deciding.
"What else can I say? I can't do much, because Cecelia's body, now my body, is a little broken."
"Did you–" she stopped short. "How di–" Francesca couldn't seem to let herself talk.
A small knock on the door broke both of their concentrations.
"Hi there," a tired nurse in pink scrubs said. "This little one says she has a present for you."
A young bald girl sat in a pink wheelchair. She smiled. "Hi, my name is…" she paused.
"Sarah," the nurse supplied. "Sometimes she gets tired and forgets."
"I have selective amnesia, apparently," Sloane said wryly. "So I get it. It's nice to meet you, Sarah."
She'd have to start speaking in Italian soon; hopefully, Francesca would help her.
She tugged her hospital gown back a little, before she said, "I have a present. I think you will both be pleased with it."
Francesca's snot and salt crusted face didn't change from the frozen shock that made its appearance the first time Sloane had used her real name.
"It's a little muddy," Sarah said with a small chuckle. "But I think you'll find it illuminating."
"What a great word!" the nurse cooed. "Two-dollars worth, at least!"
The little girl turned and stared at the nurse. "Do you think you could leave me for a second?"
"Um, uh, just for a second. I'll be right here at the nurse's station.”
Fidgeting with the pens sticking out of her shirt pocket, she left.
Sloane smiled at the new Molly expectantly. "You found it?"
"I did. And look!" She spun her chair around with a large smile on her face. "She is in remission now–thanks to me." Molly rubbed her bald head. "So hopefully, I will be here for a long time," Molly said laughing. "Francesca! It is so very wonderful to meet you, finally."
"What?"
"Sloane, you had finished telling her, right? I am not spoiling the reveal?” Molly, the stirrer of pots, asked. "Being alive again is tiring, do you not think?"
Cecelia's head moved almost at the same time Sloane wanted it to when she nodded. "I told her most of it. Just waiting for it to sink in. But thanks for adding more thoughts in the mix," Sloane said sarcastically.
"No problem. It should sink in after this," Molly said confidently and produced the small muddy box. "If you do not believe with this in your hand, then nothing will convince you." She blinked at Francesca.
Sloane grabbed the box from Molly's frail hands. "Thank you."
"Of course. After all, I owe you everything." Her hand reached up to her smooth head again.
"Make sure we don't lose touch. We still have a lot to talk about, you and me. It'll be harder now, but we can do it." Sloane hoped she made Cecelia's face stern. She already missed her blonde eyebrows.
"What is happening?" Francesca whispered.
"Molly, maybe you should stay. After all, without you, this wouldn't be possible."
The nurse walked in and grabbed the handles of the chair. "Time's up, hon."
"Guess you'll have to tell me about it later." Sarah winked.
Seeing Molly as a different person wasn't strange, but Sloane worried about who she'd picked. Hopefully, she wouldn't hop if Sarah ended up in the hospital again.
"What is that?" Francesca asked, cutting through the image of Molly destroying more lives.
"This is your engagement ring. The night of the accident, I had big plans for us. It's hard to explain how I got it back, but it was always meant to be yours." Sloane pushed back sweaty, foreign black hair and shakily said, "Sorry I can't be on one knee, but… Francesca Lucrezia Nuccio, from the moment I met you, you stole my heart. I knew you'd blow me away, but I couldn't imagine I'd be so lucky as to have you in my life for six years. You are my everything, my one, my only. I don't want to live even one day without you. So I, Susan Allereta Sloane, beg of you, please spend the rest of your life with me. Francesca, my forever, my love, will you marry me?"
Silence.
She'd stunned Francesca speechless. It was too much, too soon. Of course.
Sloane had thought things would be the same for Francesca as they were for her, but they were in different places. They'd lived in different worlds for too long.
Francesca sat beside Sloane on the bed. They both shook as Sloane handed the ring to Francesca. What she said next would determine whether all of Sloane's efforts were in vain.
Cheeks going round, Francesca smiled as tears streamed down her freckled face. Resting her forehead on Sloane's, Francesca pressed a kiss on Sloane's new lips.
"I never stopped loving you."