The flickering light was a strobe in the silent room.
Arthur had pulled a monitor wire, triggering a sharp, insistent beeping. Sarah rushed in, pressing him back into the mattress.
"Don’t move! You’ll stop your heart!"
The alarms intensified, then slowly died down as she reattached the sensor. Arthur lay still, his breath shallow.
""Her heart stopped right here," he said, his voice a ghost of a sound. "I heard it. The most beautiful sound in the world just... stopped. And now I have to listen to mine keep going, knowing it's beating for a heart that isn't there anymore.""
Sarah took his hand, her thumb tracing the lines of his palm. "Your heart is beating because she gave you enough love to last a lifetime, Arthur. It's not beating alone."