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,

to think of the things ahead and how everything was going to work out. Luke being there to

savor

ONE MONTH LATER

seemed endless, each step echoing the cacophony of emotions raging within

burden I could barely carry. The sterile smell permeated the air, a constant reminder of the stark reality that awaited me behind those white doors. My beloved lay there, fragile and

to machines that whispered tales

to my soul. His once vibrant eyes dulled, mirroring the agony I felt within. I reached out to hold his hand, the touch so familiar yet foreign, as if he were slipping away with each passing moment. The beeping

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” and “uncertain prognosis hung in the air like a curse, a constant reminder of the fragility of life and the

of light that guided me through the long and torturous nights: 1 whispered words of encouragement and promises of

other. It seeps into your bones, twists your insides, and leaves you gasping for breath in a world that suddenly seems devoid of color and joy. The quiet hum of machines replaced the laughter that once filled our home, and whispered prayers escaped my lips like a plea

in the memories we shared and in the love that bound us together through the trials 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

the hardest, long and lonely stretches of darkness

by his bedside, holding his hand and watching the rise

that fell were a silent testament

consuming that at times I felt it would swallow me whole.

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 making I knew for a fact that we would go through it all, clinging to each other–two souls bound by a love that had weathered the storm and emerged stronger

battle to fight, but also ours. The pain of watching

unbreakable, a bond that would carry us through the darkest

brightest of days

feeling, being optimistic, that any day soon we would walk hand in hand into the light of

that our love was a force to be reckoned with, a beacon of

uncertainty and pain