Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

Landon sat by the bedside, lifting Lauren's bruised hand and gently pressing it to his cheek. He rubbed her hand tenderly against his cheek before placing a delicate kiss on her palm.

This was also how he typically showed her affection. He treated her like an incredibly fragile and precious object, guarding her with unwavering devotion.

He had cared for her diligently, yet those monsters had mercilessly ravaged his beloved, dragging her through the mire and shattering her.

"Lauren, I'm right here. Open your eyes and look at me, will you?" he implored, tears welling in his eyes, his lips quivering with emotion. "Wake up... Don't leave me alone."

In the end, he remained seated like that until daybreak.

Early the next day, Javier, accompanied by Rory, arrived to visit Lauren.

Jasper was sitting outside the hospital ward. He hadn't slept all night. A conflicted look came across his eyes when he saw Javier, but he stood up anyway.

"Have you been sitting here all night without sleeping?" Javier was surprised to see the dark circles beneath Jasper's eyes.

Jasper replied coldly, "Yeah. I wasn't sleepy."

is that possible? It has been four days, hasn't it? The longest someone can go without sleep is seven days. You could end up dying a sudden

Jasper's eyes met. The

couldn't believe that Javier was expressing concern for him,

used

and cleared his throat. "I had Rory buy some

boxes of takeout. He

he said that the hospital food tastes bland. He specified that he wanted pancakes and such. I don't understand what's so tasty about

that Alyssa was also here all night. I got breakfast for

thought that he had misheard. He stared at Javier and

before explaining, "She has been helping out a lot since that incident with Lauren. She even hired a doctor from Mosgravia to check up on

usual. "Although I don't really like her, she did help my daughter.

feelings about what

noticed all these

disguise. It was as if Javier and Jasper were starting to get along better than