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.

I would’ve thought I hallucinated everything if not for the earplugs still stuck in

after waking up for a while, I remained in the same position. When Nora came

head… hurts.” My throat was so

I think I may be

scratchy voice. Upon touching my forehead with the back of her hand, she exclaimed, “You’re

a haste and spoke to someone. “We should pack our things right

but my throat hurt

my face with his ominous eyes. Then, a frown appeared

trailed in after him and suggested, “Mr. Fuller, you should take her to the base to

and picked 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

brought me straight to the base while the others followed

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

of consciousness, and I was

someone standing beside me. When Ashton’s face came into

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

felt him hugging me. Then, the muffled sound of his voice reached my ears, but I couldn’t figure

world was horrible. After a few tries, I realized that I

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

those scenarios and emotions felt so tangible

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