The sound changed before I could understand what it meant.
A sharp, uneven rhythm filled the room, breaking the quiet like something tearing apart.
“Daniel…?” I whispered, my voice shaking.
His eyes were still on me, but something inside them was fading. Not all at once… just slowly, like a light losing its strength. I grabbed his hand tighter, pressing it against my cheek, as if I could give him warmth, give him life, give him more time.
“Stay with me… please,” I said. “You promised me… you said we would be okay.”
The machine beside him beeped faster. Then slower. Then it stuttered again.
I didn’t know what to do. I looked around, hoping someone would come, but for a few seconds… it was just us. Just me and the man I love, standing at the edge of something I could not stop.
“Daniel, don’t go,” I cried, my tears falling onto his chest. “I’m here. I’m right here.”
