Another ending

Cador walked calmly into the hospital room long after visiting hours had ended. The halls were quiet, only the faint sounds of monitors steadily chugging along and night nurses shuffling from room to room, dealing out medicine and fresh pillows, and occasionally following through with the unfortunate but necessary duty of helping patients change and go to the bathroom. There wasn't anything in particular Cador was doing to actively avoid these nurses or hide himself from them, but generations of practice had made him good at sticking to the shadows, quieting his breath, and stepping light as a feather. The nurses weren't expecting to see anyone there, and so they didn't. They saw movement out of the corner of their eyes from time to time, but they couldn't catch sight of the man that caused it.

Sarah was laying in her bed as she did every night, long after her husband and children had left her side to rest for the night, waiting for the visit from her old friend. Cador was more than a thousand years older than Sarah, but he was nowhere near the end of his life as she was. He had watched her face became long and wrinkled, her hair dry and gray, and the once energetic spark in her eye fade away as the life drained away from her. He would ask with her increasing frequency as she aged if she was growing tired of him, and she would always say no.

He would ask her if it bothered her that she looked different in the mirror every day, but his face never changed. She would say no.

He would ask her if she was bothered by the fact that she know looked older than him, despite being a tenth of his age. She would laugh and shake her head.

He would ask if she wanted to hear another story of days long past.

She always said yes to that question.

He sat on the edge of her bed and gently placed a hand on her stomach, making her eyes flutter open. He knew that she was awake and waiting for him, but it was easier for her most of the time to rest her eyes.

She smiled weakly up at him. "Hey, Cador," she whispered hoarsely.

"I'd ask how you're doing," he whispered back, "but I saw your charts on the way in."

Sarah nodded, but the smile didn't fade from her face, though he could see the pain in her eyes. "It's time," she said simply.

"I know. It's been a long time since I've been invested in someone as I have been in you, you know." She smiled more at that. "It's been difficult to watch someone I knew as a teen become such an old woman. I could have sworn I swore that off a long time ago." She chuckled. "World's gonna be a little bit emptier with you gone."

Sarah softly put her own hand on top of his. "Don't be alone again," she whispered. "You were alone for too long."

"It'll be difficult to find someone like you again, that actually reminds me what joy and companionship can be."

Sarah smiled and closed her eyes, laying her head back down. "You'll find someone."

Cador stood up and gently kissed Sarah's forehead. "I won't forget you, Sarah," he whispered gently.

"I know you won't," Sarah replied. "You never forget anyone."

Cador chuckled. "Perhaps. But especially not you."