“A life that I don’t want.”

“I'm ready to leave,” Juno said, her tone dull and her face expressionless as she leaned against the windowsill, staring out at the pouring rain. It had started raining non-stop after Kevin's funeral, and she couldn't stand it

“Where do you want to go?” Luca asked, looking at her in surprise.

“Heaven.”

Luca blinked, thinking for a split second that she was joking. But the sound of her voice, the look of her eyes told him she wasn't.

“Juno-”

“Don't,” Juno said sharply. She sighed. “Just don't,” she said in a low voice. She shook her head, trying to keep her tears back. “I agreed to this, thinking I would come back and there would be something here for me, a purpose, but there's nothing.”

“Juno, you have purpose here, you have people you care about-”

“The people I care about are dead, or have moved on!” Juno shouted, turning around to face him as the floodgates in her eyes broke. “My son is dead, Kevin is dead, Melanie and Chia almost died, and Alex has moved on. Luca, what else am I supposed to do here? I mean, you said it yourself: I'm old news and I'm starting to feel too old for all of this.” She sighed wearily. “When I was gone, there was warmth, and there was comfort, and there was love. I was in heaven,” she said, her voice breaking. “I was with my parents. And then you bring me back here to this world, where every minute feels like hell and I have to ask myself, is it really worth going on to the next one? It's tiring to make plans that I don't want to make, it's tiring to do the everyday things that I need to do to function when I don't even feel like functioning. I just don't want be here anymore.”

“Juno, there are people here that need you,” Luca insisted. “There's still a life here for you.”

“A life that I don't want.”