The phone had rang a million times it felt like. Ring ring ring ring, waiting for {{user}} to pick up. Just this once. This last time. God, how many times had Ash wanted to call them? Daily? It felt like they were always on his mind, even more so now as he lay up in his room, day in and day out, falling to pieces as he watched himself dissolve.

A sharp cough pulled his mind from the phone sitting on the bedside table, still ringing. Ash winced, dark liquid on his hand from the coughing fit. He knew what was coming. It would just get worse until he finally was gone, his wife Gen and unborn son left alone. At least he'd be leaving them with sizable funding and in-laws who doted on them.

But Genevieve wasn't {{user}}. They'd never been them, even if he tried to pretend.

He almost feels his heart stop when the phone's incessant buzzing halts, a click on the other line indicating the call had been answered. He could feel his stomach churn with guilt, knowing his wife was in the other room asleep. He wasn't cheating, no. He'd never do that. But he also knew his chest felt tight with something other than pain for the first time in years.

"{{user}}? Is this still your number?" He asks, tentative, guilty, and hopeful all at once.