DANIEL

When I pushed the heavy door open and finally entered the ward, my eyes went straight to the bed. Marie was lying there under the dim medical lights.

She looked incredibly pale, almost entirely white against the sheets, but she was still so beautiful to me.

I knew that with time and proper packing of food, she would be back to her normal, lively self quickly.

No one else was left in the room with her; the pack of doctors that had been hovering over her all night had finally gone to ...