No! She concluded that she couldn't help him by sitting idly by.
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Cesia left the cottage, walking for hours, sometimes urgently quickening her pace and sometimes slowing down with exhaustion. The sun was high in the sky when she entered the forbidding forest, and it was dark when she finally left the woods to see lights flickering in the distance.
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Hungry and exhausted, she finally reached a cottage, where a compassionate old woman spread some straw on the floor so Cesia could spend the night. Early in the morning she inquired about a doctor. She could not see him immediately, she discovered, because he was at the hospital, which would not allow her in. Squeezing her throbbing head in the palms of her hands, she sat waiting for hours. With pleas, cries, and some bribe money, she eventually convinced the doctor to give her a prescription. She then ran to the druggist, only to be told that she would have to wait several days for the rare medicine. But sure enough, after shelling out the last of her money, a small bottle appeared on the counter. It was too late to begin the trek home, so Cesia stayed another night at the old woman's cottage. Before dawn she rose and set out on her return trip, with the precious bottle held tightly in her hand.
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By late evening she stood exhausted in the doorway of her hut. The cottage was dark and quiet. With trembling hands she lit the lamp to see Heshek's pale, white face against the straw mat. His eyes were closed. She came close and rested her head on his chest to listen for a heartbeat. It was weak and sporadic. With tears choking her throat, she poured the precious liquid slowly into a spoon, held his lips open, and poured the medicine down his throat. She stared at his face, waiting for a miracle to happen. She wanted him to open his eyes and look at her. She was sure he would say, "My poor Cesia, my dearest one, you are so exhausted. You went so far to bring me this medicine. Only your love could have brought me this healing. It brought me back to life. It brought me back so I could love you and care for you forever and prove to you that I am worthy of your love."
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But none of it happened that way. Heshek's face remained
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