Can’t Win Me Back

Ever since Alyssa woke, she had hardly left Jasper's side, forsaking sleep and rest with no regard for her own health.

Three more days dragged by, though for her, it felt like months— years—decades.

The time that passed was agonizing.

This wasn't the first time Jasper had been hurt because of her.

She had been through the fear and panic before, when his life hung by a thread or when he lay in a deep coma.

Yet, this time was different.

For reasons she couldn't understand, the calm and rationality she once had had vanished.

She gripped his hand tightly, her fingers woven with his.

Fear surged through her like an avalanche, threatening to drown her from the inside.

This was a fear that she had never felt.

That intense helplessness tormented her mentally every second of the day.

In just one week, Alyssa, once proud and radiant, had withered like a pale white rose.

She was gaunt, fragile, and exhausted.

hospital gown looked so big on her emaciated frame that it

day, from morning until night, she spoke to Jasper

from when she was 11 Co 18, of their marriage, their divorce, and their eventual

heart-stopping

were happy times, sad

too painful to

she remembered him, everything

had no right to ask

"Jasper...

there is some issue with

I'm really scared.

when you wake up." Alyssa

over his fingertips, the back of his hand, and his

their most intimate moments, Jasper had often said she was like a tender

shower her skin with kisses, leaving her trembling in

public, their affection

her fingers, her

her

his love, of not knowing how to express it any

didn't know what to do with himself

was her turn to be vulnerable, her

Indeed, God was just.