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.

wind. I would’ve thought I hallucinated

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,

to answer. “My head… hurts.” My throat

may

my scratchy voice. Upon touching my forehead with

rushed out in a haste and spoke to someone. “We should pack our things right now and go back to A City. Scarlett is down with a

wanted to say something, but

Then, a frown appeared between his brows when he touched my forehead. “Jesus,

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

then, my head was buzzing with a pounding headache. I knew that nothing I

Ashton brought me straight to the base while the others

car. My body felt light, as though I

of consciousness, and I was plagued by an unending stream of nightmares, unable to break

into view, I reached out to grab him, but my fingers just couldn’t seem to

of breaking down after several failed attempts. As my emotions spiraled out of control, I began

Then, the muffled sound of his voice reached my ears, but I couldn’t figure out

world was horrible. After a few tries, I realized that I couldn’t

indistinct. One

so

torment lasted a long time. When I finally opened my eyes, it was to