I’m lying in a heap on the bed, numb from endless sobbing and wracking pain. I don’t know how long I’ve been lying, listening to my blood rush through my head as my heart self-implodes inside my body. I’m nothing but a shell. A quiet, empty shell of exhaustion and heartache rumpled beyond recognition.

I lashed out, hit at him, and shoved him away with every ounce of strength I possessed, yet still, he tried to cling to me.

My Jake, my body and soul. Now the destroyer of ...