Wade stayed quiet, clearly wrestling with something–or just unwilling to admit it. I decided to cut to


    the chase. “Wade, did youe into Yuna’s life on purpose?” His head snapped up, panic shing


    in his eyes. That look alone was answer enough.


    Thinking of how I resembled Narelle, and remembering how Wade had been close by after her


    passing- even following me into the hospital for Yuna’s surgery couldn’t help but ask, “Were you


    hoping that by spending time around Yuna, you’d get to see me more often? To… imagine Narelle


    through me?”


    “No.” His denial came out fast, almost desperately. “I haven’t done that. Not even once.”


    He took a big gulp of coffee, like he was trying to calm himself or bury something.


    I didn’t say anything, just watched him carefully.


    “Believe me or not,” Wade said, his voice serious, “I’ve never thought of you as Narelle. You may


    look alike, but I know you’re not the same person.”


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    His honesty reassured me–at least a little.


    I’d always worried that Wade might see me as Narelle’s recement, that he’d never really move


    on. Now that he’d said otherwise, I believed him. But one thing still didn’t add up.


    “Still,” I pressed, “your presence around Yuna feels way too coincidental.”


    Wade’s mouth tightened, and he said nothing.


    It wasn’t just my imagination–there was definitely more to his sudden interest in Yuna.


    “If you’re not willing to exin, I’ll stop you from seeing her,” I said bluntly.


    “I mean no harm to Yuna. I just…” He faltered again. “I just want to protect her. Quietly, from a


    distance.”


    I could see the sincerity in his eyes; he wasn’t putting on a show. But Wade and Yuna barely knew


    each other, so why this intense urge to protect her?


    “Why do you want to protect her?” I asked, and then a thought struck me, making my heart pound.


    “Wade, don’t tell me…”


    My shock must’ve been obvious because Wade looked down, as if he knew I’d figured it out.


    “Yuna’s heart transnt… the heart she received… it was Narelle’s, wasn’t it?”


    For a moment, it felt like my blood turned to ice. Suddenly, everything clicked.


    No wonder Wade had stayed by the hospital that day, refusing to leave. He hadn’t been there for


    me–he’d been there to witness Narelle’s heart beating again, now inside Yuna.


    I took a couple of long sips of my coffee, trying to steady myself.


    “Narelle is still alive, in a way,” Wade murmured, his eyes misting over. “She lives on, in Yuna’s


    world.”


    The bitterness of the coffee grounded me. “So, in a sense, you’ve started seeing Yuna as Narelle.


    Isn’t that


    it?”


    Wade hesitated. “No, I know she’s not Narelle. She just has Narelle’s heart.”


    “But Yuna’s fallen for you, Wade,” I said, pushing a little further. “Do you think that lovees from


    Yuna herself, or from the heart beating in her chest?”


    Wade took another sip of coffee. “I don’t know.”


    I exhaled slowly. “So how do you n to respond to her feelings?”


    He stayed quiet, which told me everything. He was lost, caught between his past and whatever he


    felt


    now.


    Feelings aren’t something anyone else can sort out for you. In the end, this was Wade’s decision to


    make.


    I watched him, wrestling with emotions he couldn’t seem to name. “Wade, even though Yuna has


    Narelle’s heart, she’s still Yuna. She’s not Narelle, and you need to understand that. And…”


    I let my words hang there for a moment. “Yo


    have to figure out your own feelings and make a choice, soon. If you don’t, you’re only going to hurt


    Yuna more deeply.”


    “I know,” he murmured, looking as lost as ever


    “I just… I don’t know what to do right now.”


    Tunderstood, but there was nothing more I could say. I’d told him what he needed to hear. The rest


    was up to him.