"I'll make sure you find her alone. Tomorrow, early in the morning, Ray will take you," Vince said.

"Ok. I can do that. You better get well, too. Get up quickly," Philip scolded him.

Vince took his situation very seriously. His joy for Lavinia was the only thing keeping him alive hoping to escape the nightmare of drugs and alcohol.

Soon he began to go under the influence of drugs and the convulsions in his bones returned making the night torturing. Sweat and cries mixed with tears stirred the nurses to calm him down.

The doctor ordered him to take morphine. It was the only one who could calm him for a while from the pain of addiction.

At the same time, Kevin and Lavinia were enjoying dinner at a beachfront restaurant in Vancouver.

"I would have done it before, but I think now after the success of the surgery is better," Kevin said, pulling out a box with a bright platinum diamond ring, asking for her hand in marriage.

Lavinia felt strange in the sight. She never thought she would have the pleasure of seeing a proper proposal, like the ones her sister read to her in the novels when she was little. She left Kevin put the ring in her finger. She humbly gazed at the tiny flashes of the diamond from the lights of the restaurant.

"You don't have to answer right away, Lavinia. Savvy. But keep that I will wait," he said, without any pressure.

The speeches came like rain after her vision was restored. She didn't refuse anyone. As always humble and keeping the tone down, she agreed to travel back out of Canada to talk to the world like a well-established social worker.

At the same time, Vince was continuing his drug fight at the hospital. In that difficult moment, the only thing that calmed his mind was music. He was inspired and wrote a song in the hospital, with the help of Ray and Philip, dedicated to Lavinia.

He asked for some time with support medicines, be transferred to the staff of the studio in his house, so he was recording his new song. With the supervision of Ray and Philip, but also with the promise that he would go back to the hospital to continue his treatment, the doctor gave him a few hours off.

"Ray," he said tiredly. "Turn the camera on. I want you to give this performance to the public all over the world."

"But, like this, in the pajamas, the bandages, the serum, I mean..."

"Yeah, like that. Just as I am," Vince interrupted him briskly. "Don't you see what's left? My shadow and my voice," he continued seriously.

Ray did what he was told. In a few hours, the art channel had Vince's recording ready and was transmitting it while he had already returned to the hospital.

Where there was TV, cafes, bars, houses, everyone stopped all the work they did and excited, they watched Vince's heartbreaking melodic song.

I must

I must, I must take light from your light,

devastated by choices that were naked in front of them.

I must, I must remain silent when you speak in peace,

my gaps to fill with your honesty.

A cardboard box my soul washed away by the rain,

the demon's ego blinded me from the start.

You've been the torch all my way,

I, your carnal light, and you, my spiritual motivation.

Free you brought to my hands the solution,

if only I could hear you happy in my life's west.

With what courage and heart for love to speak?

You've been patient, and I've been running to solve the unsolved.

You glory, you are infatuation, you seduce everyone in your net,

at a price, you are condemned to seek your soul.

I must, I must seize the last moment,

your words to do before my life is permanently lost.

"You watched a new song by the acclaimed artist Vince Cooper. We thank him and move on to our next program," the announcer said coldly.

But the people who saw him in this situation began to weep and understand that Vince wanted to be saved from his suffering and to return to his great love, music. It was only yesterday that he lost his newborn daughter and people seemed to forget easily. His song carved the memories of the viewers, bringing mixed feelings about the artist, mostly sadness.

Lavinia and Kevin applauded him spontaneously from the living-room TV at her house.

"He's an amazing artist!" Kevin said.

"Yes, it is. But his life is not amazing," she said thoughtfully.

"What does he mean by his lyrics? Who didn't hear?"

"Me, Kevin. He talks about me."

Ray and Phillip, the other day in the morning, were at her house, just like Vince was promised. The giant bouquet of his roses filled her arms. Lavinia greeted them humbly as always.