Memoria
Let's go ahead and guess the rest. After the presentation, she truly realized she needed to quit. She held a meeting with HR and then her boss to tell them the truth. Her broken hearted boss was still completely professional, but cried like a baby once he was alone. She then had to tell her good friend/assistant the truth and apologize. Finally, announced it to the whole team she was resigning due to personal reasons or health concerns. Down the line, the red head heard about the news; she was angry and in disbelief until she confronted the painter. Then the red head felt strangely sad and empty; she had lost a worthy rival. Even after quitting, the MC found herself going to work by mistake a few times or getting lost in route. The saddest conversation was the one that transpired not long after; it was hard to hide the coping mechanisms. She had a conversation with her brother and broke the news. She told him the truth about the hospital incident and the door incident. The painter was by their side thankfully, but the brother was devastated. After a while, the painter was upfront with the brother and told him about his infidelity; he couldn't hide it because MC started to get sporadic episodes of the bad incident. The brother never looked at the painter quite the same way again, but he was grateful for his presence all the same. They all lived together to get some semblance of normal. The painter took care of the MC for the rest of her life and the picture room became her safe haven and one of the best ways to keep her calm. The painter and brother became advocates for dementia research after watching her go through its hellish tragic process. MC died while in a coma after her body continued to fail her.
After Staring at the Starry Sky