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.

gown looked so big on her emaciated frame that it looked like it

from morning until night, she

Co 18, of their marriage,

heart-stopping

times, sad times, tears of

memories, once too

she remembered him, everything was

had no right

"Jasper...

there is

I'm really scared.

that you will forget me when you wake up." Alyssa picked up Jasper's calloused hand and interlaced her

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

intimate moments, Jasper had often said she was like a tender piece of meat, tempting him with every

kisses, leaving her trembling in

public, their affection

her fingers,

her

were simply his way of showing his love, of not knowing how to

didn't know what to do

vulnerable, her turn to taste the fear of losing

Indeed, God was just.