Snow fell thick and fast outside the frosted window, delicate flakes settling gently on Celia's dark hair.
In the quiet cold, she could feel the tiny spark of life inside her slipping away, thread by thread. Her strength drained into the freezing night, her existence dissolving into nothingness.
In her fading ears, the only sound was Adrian's heavy, ragged gasps for air. Through a haze of fading consciousness, memories flooded back: childhood days when her little brother trailed behind her, chattering endlessly; sitting together, starry-eyed, planning a future that would never come; the day she got married, clinging to his young shoulders, weeping until she couldn't breathe.
Hot tears slid silently down her hollow cheeks.
'Adrian... I'm so sorry. I can't protect you anymore.'
Just the
