Just when everyone had given up hope, Lilith felt the arm nearest her move, as it made its way to stroke her hair gently. "Lilith?" came the weak inquiry.
"Angela?" Lilith grabbed the hand that had stroked her, wondering—
Angela blinked, opened her eyes, and rose to a sitting position, as Daniel hurried to find the doctor. Lilith cried out—this time for joy—and threw her arms around Angela's neck.
"Did—did you mean everything you said?" Angela asked.
"Every word," Lilith sobbed, holding Angela close, not wanting to let go of her again. "Can—can you ever forgive me?"
"I forgave you," Angela laughed, wiping away the tears that fell from Lilith's face, "the minute my car crashed. I left because you'd hurt me so much, but, as always, I forgave you for everything. Now the question remains—can you forgive yourself?"
Lilith blinked back the tears that formed in her eyes, swallowed the lump in her throat, and whispered, "Yes—yes, I do forgive myself."
A tender moment followed, as Lucy, so scared before in her crying spell, now reached over to give Angela as big and as strong a hug as her condition would allow.
"I was so worried about you, Angela!" Lucy sobbed.
"Oh, Lucy," Angela laughed, leaning over to give her cousin a kiss, "I think I'll be all right now."
"We were all worried about you, Angela," Herb, Coral's husband, said, giving his granddaughter a kiss.
"Thanks, Grandpa," Angela replied.
"I really thought I was losing you," Dustin said, as he cried on her shoulder. "Will—will you marry me?" he added, producing a small box. Helping her open it, he revealed a diamond engagement ring.
"Yes," Angela replied, tears filling her eyes. "This—this is a day full of promise," she added, slipping the ring on her finger as the attending nurse cleaned her up.
By that time, Daniel had come back with the doctor. "Well, I can see I was wrong," the doctor admitted, smiling. "What prompted the change?"
"Love," Coral said, wiping her eyes, "a true love that only a sister could give."
"Yes, there's nothing like love to make things all better," Lilith said. Why she'd ever felt she could hold on to the anger as long as she had, she didn't know—but if it meant her sister almost dying, she knew it wasn't worth it.