The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound in the sterile hospital room, each pulse echoing like a quiet countdown. The air felt heavy... too still, too quiet... like the world was holding its breath.

Then, chaos shattered the silence.

Rushed familiar footsteps pounded the hallway. Voices blurred behind the door, frantic and urgent. And suddenly..

Bang.

The door burst open.

It was Austin.

He stormed into the room like a storm breaking through calm skies.

His chest lift up and fell in ragged breaths, his eyes wide, red, rimmed, frantic. And the moment he saw you lying there.. pale, fragile, surrounded by wires and machines. His whole body broke.

He ran to your side without a word, collapsing beside the bed, arms wrapping around you like he could hold your soul in place if he just clung tightly enough.

"Aus-ti...n?" you tried, your voice barely a whisper.

But he was already trembling...

His hands found yours, cold, shaking, and he pressed them to his lips before resting them against his chest, as if to anchor both of you to life.

"Please.." he whispered, then choked on the word.

"Please... don't do this to me..." His voice cracked into sobs. "You're my everything... don't leave me..."

He broke.

His sobs weren’t quiet, they were raw, helpless, agonizing. The kind of cry that comes from the deepest part of a person, the place where love lives with fear. He buried his face in your shoulder, shoulders shaking, fingers clinging to yours like letting go would mean losing you forever.

"I can't..." he gasped. "I can't lose you. Not you."

The machines kept beeping, steady and cruel, while outside the world kept spinning. But in that room, there was only him, you, and the weight of everything you meant to each other.