When There Is Nothing Left But Love

I dozed off anyway. Suddenly, I felt Ashton stir next to me. When I opened my eyes, I saw him struggling to make his way off the bed.

I sprung out of my bed immediately and ran over to help him, as though in a trance.

He was sweating profusely again, probably because of the injury on his back. Seeing that I was up, he looked at me apologetically and said, “Did I wake you?”

I shook my head, feeling a little sorry for him. As I grabbed hold of his arm, I asked in concern, “Are you alright? The doctor said you aren’t allowed to get off the bed yet.”

He pursed his lips, his fingers tightening around the handrails of his bed. “I’m going to the toilet.”

I froze for a moment before replying, “There’s a bedpan!”

“Help me to the bathroom!” he ordered as though he hadn’t heard me. His voice was low and full of authority, and for a moment I thought he was back to the cold, distant Ashton again.

He had his pride, I supposed. Knowing that I wouldn’t win in an argument, I gave in and helped him off the bed.

He was 180cm tall and looked almost absurd next to me. For some reason, I had a distinct feeling that he was consciously not putting any of his weight on me.

We entered the toilet. Since his arm was still attached to the IV drip, I bent down without a second thought to help him unbuckle his belt.

However, he grabbed hold of my hand almost immediately. Looking a little helpless, he said, “Alright, I can do this myself. Go outside and wait for me.”

was on his back and didn’t affect his walking but sitting down would cause his wound to

me and shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Be a good girl and wait for me

at him, feeling more worried than ever. Pushing his IV drip aside, I said, “I’ll just help you unbuckle your belt. I won’t look at you,

A hint of desperation had crept into his voice. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not a child, you know. I know what I’m capable

look on his face. I

toilet. I heard the door

Ashton was always

so worried about him, I sat outside and waited for a while more. After a long time, I started panicking a

fine!” he replied, sounding

later, I heard the toilet flush. I got up and was about to go in to help him.

fine, I let out a sigh of relief and helped

with fresh bandages in her hands. This time, she didn’t try and hide the wound—instead, she peeled off the bandages and exposed his wound to the cold

blistering skin on his back, my heart skipped a beat.

need to remain in the hospital for a while more so we can observe his condition. As far as possible, make sure he doesn’t make any big movements that might aggravate his condition. That could slow down the rate of his recovery.” After explaining this to us, the doctor removed the last bits of rotting flesh from Ashton’s

back, I shuddered in horror, hardly

the IV drip to his arm after bandaging his

His back was

the hospital. Instead, he told her to return

the plan was to take Ashton to a hospital in K City, too. However, after considering the rough journey and the state of his

every day to visit us. Although our interactions were rather awkward, they could be considered