Marcello stood beneath the steaming shower, water cascading over him in relentless sheets. He couldn’t recall how long he had been there, motionless, as thought after thought ripped through his mind like claws. He felt nothing only a deep, suffocating numbness.

Never had he imagined he could regret anything this bitterly… or crave something so desperately. The sensation that life itself was slipping from his grasp haunted him, and he was powerless to stop it. How had he come to this? He ...