"Will you stay? At least for a few minutes? You're the first visitor I've had."
Intense green eyes, so warm and yet distant. So alone and vulnerable, yet so resilient and strong.
"Can I come back tomorrow?"
So many days spent with him, gaining his trust by giving him my own. Falling in love with him a day at a time. A smile at a time.
"I'm scared, Tori. I feel like I'm falling apart, and there's nothing left to hold on to."
"Hold on to me, sweetheart."
Oh God, and then . . .
"Tori, I want you to go . . . and I don't want you . . . to come back tomorrow."
And I left.
"Code blue, code blue, room four-twelve."
And he nearly left this world before I could get back to him. Before he could see the truth of what was between us.
"Jenny, is there any hope for him?"
"Tori, you need to be there for him and help him fight this. Remember that he loves you, and in the end, he chose you."
He chose me.
Will chose me, and he's fighting for me. He's fighting for
us
. And I'm going to help him fight, with everything I have.