The Love From Vengeance

341: HOLDING ON

ARIEL’S POV

Janice furrowed her brows, concern etched across her features. “Mom, you shouldn’t be pushing yourself like this. You’re hurt.”

“I know, sweetheart,” I sighed, wincing as I adjusted myself on the bed. “But I had to make sure your dad

was okay.”

“But the doctors are taking care of him, right?”

“Yes, they are.” I nodded, reaching out to gently stroke her hair. “But I just needed to see him for myself, you know?”

Janice nodded, her eyes filled with understanding. “I get it, Mom. But please, promise me you’ll take it easy. You need to focus on getting better too.”

“I promise,” I replied, offering her a weak smile. “Now, how about we both try to get some rest? We could

use it.”

Janice nodded, leaning against my shoulder. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

As we settled into the quiet room, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude wash over me. Together, we would confront numerous challenges, yet our unwavering unity would be the only thing that mattered.

L

Storms could come and chaos might unfold, but with my blood by my side, those terrors would be so

bootless,

ahead and how everything was going to work out. Luke being there

would savor

ONE MONTH LATER

each step echoing the

was heavy with a burden I could barely carry. The sterile smell permeated the air, a constant reminder of the stark reality that awaited me behind those

hooked up to machines that whispered tales of

so familiar yet foreign, as if he were slipping away with each

days had transitioned into nights, which in turn led to endless hours of waiting and hopelessness The doctors came and went, their faces a mask of professionalism that did little to assuage my growing terror. Words like “critical–condition”

the long and torturous nights: 1 whispered words of

gasping for breath in a world that suddenly seems

and tribulations of life. I clung to those moments like a drowning soul to a life raft, holding onto the hope that They would be sufficient to rescue her from the abyss. But deep down, I knew that love alone was not always a

and lonely stretches of darkness that seemed to stretch into eternity. I

bedside, holding his hand and watching the rise and fall of his chest, willing him to

tears that fell were a silent testament to the pain that gnawed at

at times I felt it would swallow me

of the machines, I would whisper words of love and devotion, promises of a future we might never share 1 would tell him of the dreams we had woven together and the plans we had made, hoping that somewhere in the recesses of his

other–two souls bound by a love that had weathered the storm and emerged stronger

to fight, but also ours. The pain of watching him suffer had forged a bond

carry

brightest of days

soon we would walk

a force to be reckoned with,

uncertainty and pain