40 Despair

The first night was the hardest. A man weak in the lungs was the first to appear. He showed the money to Boss and insisted he didn't have any illness, that was all it took for him to visit Adeline. She knew there was nothing she could do, so she did the only thing she could think to do and pretended everything was fine.

Once the night was done though, she lay in her new room crying in silence. Shame, grief, pain, she felt everything she had been suppressing earlier. The worst of it all though was when she discovered she was unable to cure disease.

She realized she couldn't go near anyone she loved without the risk of infecting them. What caused her more pain than anything else was that she would not be able to see Isabelle again. She couldn't say a proper goodbye, she couldn't kiss her little princess goodnight one last time. To protect her, Adeline had to stay away.