air. He raised his hand and tenderly cupped her cheek. Her
 
 eyes filled up with tears, even though she didn’t want to let
 
 them spill because she knew it would only upset him. They
 
 fell anyway, dripping onto the white sheets tucked around her
 
 dad’s shrunken form. “Leaving you alone is the last thing I
 
 want to do, but I’m ready. Your mother was the love of my life
 
 and I’ve missed her terribly. I just hope she’s out there, and
 
 that I can find her again. That my energy will know her
 
 energy.”
 
 Coralyn wasn’t sure what she believed. They weren’t
 
 religious. She wasn’t aware of her father going down any
 
 spiritual path, but then, those things were personal. He was an
 
 artist who had created stunning pieces of jewellery in his life.
 
 Jewellery that would outlast him and probably many
 
 generations to come. Of course he had a searching heart, a
 
 keen mind, a desire to want to believe in something.
 
 “You’ll find it,” she said, sounding more confident than she
 
 felt. Like every other human who had come before her and
 
 would come after, she wished that she knew for sure.
 
 “Your mother wouldn’t have wanted you to be alone.”
 
 She shook her head. “No, Dad. I’m okay. I’m sorry.” She
 
 bowed her head, so her tears ran off her cheeks. “I’m just a
 
 wreck. I’m trying to be brave and it’s not really working out.”
 
 “That’s okay.” His hand rested on the crown of her head.
 
 “Sometimes being brave looks like that.”
 
 “I’m scared for you.” She looked into her dad’s face, but the
 
 rest of whatever she was going to say died when she saw the
 
 smile on his lips. Peace. That’s what was waiting for him. An
 
 end to the pain he was in, and God, it had to be horrible.
 
 “Don’t be. I’m not afraid for me.”