Nobody had expected him to fade away so quickly.
He might have been saved, the accident might not have taken his life, if only they had realised the damage that was done.
It was all her fault.
They could have been anywhere at that time, they could be playing games or reading books or watching television or eating dinner but NO, they were in a hospital, and what was worse was that it was the last place they would ever be together.
That was how it seemed, anyway. The many doctors that filed through did not give her any encouragement or signs of hope, nor would they answer any of her questions. She was impatient and worried, and impatient and worried she remained for many long hours.
That night was the hardest night of her life, when every time he took a breath she could tell it hurt him and every time he moved she could tell his struggle was becoming more desperate.
"Please don't leave me here, please don't give up," she would whisper every time the muscles in his hand clenched. He would take a deep, gasping breath and be silent for a few moments, allowing her a brief amount of time for her heart to settle before it began again.
That night was the hardest night of her life.
She knew, in the morning she knew that he wouldn't make it much longer, and while almost every part of her screamed with the pain of abandonment and the terror of being alone, there was a part of her that was glad he wouldn't have to fight for every heartbeat.
He would be able to rest again.
She wouldn't, but what was she when a man was dying, when her man was dying, when there was nothing to lose and everything to gain.
She was there when his eyes closed, never again to open of his own accord, and she knew he would sleep restlessly until his lungs no longer expanded and you couldn't see his hand quivering.
"I won't be able to live without you."
If only it were that simple, if only she could simply fade away, if only she could curl up in a ball and disappear forever.
She wouldn't be allowed to.
She would be alive for what would seem like lifetimes after he was gone. She would have to talk to people and buy food and go to work. She would have to go on living, even if she lost the will to live.
It wasn't fair, but then again, neither was the accident, neither was the fact that both of their lives were overturned by one tiny mistake, neither was the way life treated the shattered remains of what she might have called her family someday. It was all lost now, anyway.
Two people died when he took his final breath.