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.

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

aside those thoughts, I registered the headache pulsing behind my temples. Hence, even after waking up for a while, I remained in the same position. When Nora came into my tent and saw me lying down with my eyes open, she paused briefly and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you

lips to answer. “My head… hurts.” My throat was so dry I

I may be down

upon hearing my scratchy voice. Upon touching my forehead with the

someone. “We should pack our things right now and go back to A City.

something, but my throat hurt

face with his ominous eyes. Then, a

“Mr. Fuller, you should take her to the base to see a doctor first. There’s a clinic over

nodded and picked me up. By then, my head was buzzing with a pounding headache. I knew that nothing I said would make a

the base

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

fluctuated as I drifted in and out of consciousness, and I was plagued by an

someone standing beside me. When Ashton’s face came into view, I reached out to grab him, but my fingers just

attempts. As

sound of his voice reached my ears, but I couldn’t figure out what

few tries, I realized that I couldn’t open my mouth, let alone speak.

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

fact, many of those scenarios and emotions felt so tangible that I couldn’t differentiate between dream and

When I finally opened my eyes, it was to see everything white. I’m in a hospital