"Please, Robert, you can use the door," Emma replied as she approached the room entrance and gestured with her hands that Robert had to leave. He did not take his eyes from Emma's; those eyes were dripping in sadness yet yearning. Robert rose from the bed slowly, deliberately, as if every movement he made was to be savored through an intake of every second spent with Emma.
She stepped aside as he neared the door, her eyes not meeting his. The tension between them was so great; the air was thick with unspoken feelings.
Robert reached the door, opened it, and stepped out into the hallway, almost in tears. He looked back at Emma for one last time to catch a glimpse of some change in her expression, but her face was still resolute.
He reached the landing, his heavy heart with him, closed th
