The girl stood frozen at the hospital bed, tears streaming down her face as the steady beep of the monitor faded into silence. Her boyfriend—gone. The car crash had taken him away in a blink, and now the world felt unbearably still.

Her friends stood nearby, silent, helpless. Among them was her ex-boyfriend, the one she hadn’t spoken to in months. He watched her break, her sobs wracking her fragile frame. Without thinking, he stepped forward.

She collapsed, and he caught her.

Wordlessly, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly as if trying to shield her from a pain he couldn’t take away. He had never stopped loving her. Not for a moment. And now, seeing her shattered, he only wished he could make it all go away.