Years had passed since that fateful day when Lieutenant Quinn had left this world, but for Macey, the pain had never truly faded.

The passage of time had done little to soothe the deep regret and self-blame that had become a part of her daily existence.

Each day was a reminder of her unresolved feelings, the missed opportunities, and the quiet sorrow that had taken root in her heart.

Now an older woman, Macey had settled into a quiet life, far removed from the chaos of the battlefield.

Yet, despite the distance from her past, she carried it with her, woven into the very fabric of her being.

The letters she had written to Quinn over the years were kept in a weathered box, a testament to a love and grief that had endured the test of time.

One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon and the room was bathed in the soft glow of twilight, Macey sat at her desk, the familiar scent of summer still lingering in her memory.

She picked up her pen, her hand trembling slightly as she began to write a letter that she knew would be the last.

This was not for any official record or for anyone but herself; it was a final, cathartic release of the emotions she had harbored for so long.

♡♡♡

Dear Lieutenant Quinn,

I find myself writing to you once again, even though I know you will never read these words.I am compelled to write, not for you, but for myself. My heart is heavy with the weight of the years that have passed since I last saw you, and the silence between us has grown deafening.

I carry with me a profound regret—a regret that I could not save you, that I was not there when you needed me the most. The days we spent together, the brief moments of connection, are now the shadows that haunt my memories. I replay them over and over, questioning every choice I made, every action I took, wondering if I could have done something differently.

The world has moved on, but I am still here, living with the echoes of the past. I see your face in my dreams, and I am often awakened by the weight of what might have been. I remember the scent of summer that lingered around you, a fleeting reminder of the warmth and life that was taken too soon. It was a scent that brought comfort in the midst of chaos, a symbol of the life you had and the life I wish I could have helped you preserve.

I wish I had been braver, not just in my role as a nurse but in my heart. I wish I had been able to tell you how much you meant to me, how much I admired your strength and your spirit. Instead, I am left with only the silence between us, a void that words can never fill.

Forgive me for not being able to do more, for not being able to protect you from the fate that awaited. My life has been marked by this silence, and it is a silence that will forever remain between us.

I hope that wherever you are, you have found peace. I hope that the guilt I carry will not follow me into the next life, and that I can find some semblance of solace in knowing that I did care deeply for you, even if I failed to show it in the ways that mattered most.

Goodbye, Lieutenant Quinn. May the summer's warmth embrace you once more, and may you find the peace that eluded us both.

Yours always,
Macey

♡♡♡

As Macey placed the finished letter back into the box, she felt a small measure of relief, a fleeting moment of release from the burden she had carried for so long.

The silence between them was still there, but the words had given her a semblance of closure.

She closed the lid of the box, her heart a little lighter but still heavy with the echoes of a love and regret that would forever remain a part of her.

The silence in between her and Lt. Quinn was a testament to the depth of her feelings—a silence that spoke of loss, of love, and of the inescapable passage of time.