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.

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

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

head… hurts.” My throat

I may be

my scratchy voice. Upon touching my forehead with the back of her hand, she

our things right now and

but my

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

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

with a pounding headache. I knew that nothing

me straight to the base

headache, I fell asleep again after getting into the car. My body felt light, as though I was floating

drifted in and out of consciousness, and I

semi-conscious state, I vaguely saw someone standing beside me. When Ashton’s face came into view, I reached out

several failed attempts. As my emotions spiraled out of control, I

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

was horrible. After a few tries, I realized that I couldn’t open my mouth, let alone speak. Hence, I

plunged deeper into my dreams. Some were horrifying, while others were beautiful, but most were indistinct. One thing they

so tangible that I

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