When There Is Nothing Left But Love

The rain got heavier in the middle of the night, and I jolted awake when thunder cracked across the sky like a whip.

When I turned on my side, I realized with a start that there was someone lying down beside me.

Before I could release a scream, a hand shot out to grab mine and then came a man’s soothing voice. “Calm down. It’s me.”

My chest heaved as I tried to recover from my shock. “Ashton, what are you…” I trailed off.

His unexpected presence had brought scared the daylights out of me, but gradually, I regained my bearings and furrowed my brows. Shouldn’t he be with Rachel now? Why is he here?

I pursed my lips and uttered icily, “What are you doing here?”

His lips remained sealed, seemingly having no intention to answer me. Right then, another clap of thunder boomed overhead, and I flinched closer to him. However, he didn’t seem to notice the subtle movement as he stuffed a pair of earplugs into my ears.

My surroundings instantly became quiet and for a while, I merely stared blankly at him in the dark.

Throughout it all, he didn’t utter a single word. Instead, he hugged me and coaxed me to sleep by gently patting my back.

I was really sleepy, to begin with, I gradually dozed off in his arms and slept through the entire night.

The sky was already bright when I woke up the next day, and the morning air was slightly humid due to the heavy rain from the previous night.

Subconsciously looking to my side, I felt slightly incredulous when I found the space empty.

and goes like the wind. I would’ve thought I hallucinated everything if not

while, I remained in the same position. When Nora came into my tent and saw me

shook my head and parted my lips to answer. “My head… hurts.” My throat was so dry I could

I may

Upon touching my forehead with

someone. “We should pack our things

something, but my throat hurt too

his ominous eyes. Then,

and suggested, “Mr. Fuller, you should take her to the base to see a doctor

me up. By then, my head was buzzing with a pounding headache. I knew that nothing I said would make a difference, so I simply

the

again after getting into the car. My body felt light, as though

consciousness, and I was plagued by an unending

beside me. When Ashton’s face came into view, I reached out to grab him, but my fingers just couldn’t

on the verge of breaking down after several failed attempts. As my emotions spiraled

muffled sound of his voice reached my

able to communicate with the outside world was horrible. After a few tries, I realized that I

dreams. Some were horrifying, while others were beautiful, but most were indistinct. One thing they had in a common was that they felt like things

felt so tangible that I couldn’t differentiate between dream and

my eyes, it was to see everything white. I’m in a