https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/dreemsteem/EoGqhxVbBt5K3K6nvPVYKxExfyLRY4R6LB3PvpFMQpovwqxpWkSWL1AYwwiKsPcjDtg.png

Purposely, she ran her finger over the edge of chipped mug.



The edge was sharp.  Sharp enough to be used in ways she shouldn't be considering - especially under the watchful eyes of her team of doctors.





*Hm. Doctors?* The term didn't seem to apply to them. Didn't doctors swear to "do no harm"?  Was keeping her heavily drugged their solution for her healing? Not that it mattered. It certainly didn't matter to her.  She had 38 hours left until she was free. *Truly free.*





Through the haze, she saw his blurry silhouette moving towards her.  Slowly.  As if he was approaching a wild animal.





Her eyes, like her mind, slipped in and out of focus, but she would recognize that face anywhere.  *David.*





Silently, he bridged the gap between them.  His eyes were intense, but caring.  His mouth - a straight line, but trembling.  





"I know you sent me away. But I'm here."





She let her head loll to the side, and rested it on her left shoulder. Why couldn't he stop? She wasn't his problem to fix. The darkness would always reign in her life.  If he stayed, his perfect heart would only be swallowed up into the black hole of her existence. She would tell him all these things - all over again, if she could only make her mouth move.





"You know what scares me? Not your demons.  Not your rage.  Not your silence.  The only thing that scares me - is your absence. If you had been successful -"  he reached to gently touch her wrists.  With surprising agility, she yanked her arm away from his touch.





"You can pull away and push against me, but I'm not going anywhere ever again. Walking away from you was the best thing to ever happen to me. You know why?"  He paused, knowing that she was listening and wondering.  "Because I had to feel the emtpiness it created. I would have never known it, until it was too late. Now I know. If you don't exist, neither do I." 





He cautiously raised his open hand to her face.  If it was any closer, it would have lovingly cradled her face. He waited for her to close the distance and make contact.  He held his hand there, patiently. 





She rolled her gaze to the large clock again and made the calculations in her head.  Then she looked back at his face. She could see the unshed tears shimmering in his compassionate eyes.





Tears flowed in a stream down her cheeks as if a dam had broken. She leaned forward slowly and laid her cheek in his warm palm. 





Thirty-seven hours and fourteen minutes.





Then, she would try again.


</div>

*****




![I lived another life as a Tiger..png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/dreemsteem/EqQSuVAeqhuDZA5FDsfXZyfivanrSEbY86DKc5k8498j7PcSvf3ZmQP81wWXz4MCLH2.png)



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