And thus, she looked at me. Menacingly, as harmful thoughts appear to be flashing in her dark blue eyes. Would this be the moment that I will never get the chance to regret?

With a flash of reflected light, her movement was too swift for me to notice. Pain rushed through my body with enough force to overload my senses. I feel it sputtering out of me with a velocity that a bullet could be jealous of. My sight grows crimson with each passing second, that goes by so incredibly slow. The twitching of my nose at the coppery smell drive home my fears, mixed with the very same taste.

And all that is left is the piercing sound of her manic cackling. Perhaps that is the most daunting sign of my inevitable end. I try to admit the guilt that I feel to her, but that act has become impossible. As my sight fades from red to black, I can feel something else past the torment. A cold embrace, growing ever tighter around my entire being. Welcoming it with all of my remaining strength seemed like the only fitting thing to do.

Then, shaking. Softly at first, but growing more intense the longer that I don't respond to it. My ears pick up a much more pleasant noise this time around. "Honey, wake up." The voice rocking through my core. I gently force my eyes open, only to be met by a blinding light. Through it, though, a silhouette blocks out the source of this discomfort.

My vision becomes clearer, and her gentle smile immediately puts me at rest after that nightmare. Spotting worry behind her eyes leads me to reach out to her, as she rests her head against my shoulder. I can feel her tears seeping through my shirt. Stroking her hair seems to put her at ease. That is good. She pulls back a little bit to look at me, closely inspecting my face. As I fall in love with her for the second time, she takes me out of bed towards the bathroom.

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The reflection reminds me once more of how lucky I am. Seeing her there, standing beside me and looking after me with so much care...

As she slowly unwinds the bandages around my neck, I close my eyes once more to take it all in. And then I hear a noise, so faintly that it almost tickles my ears. Her soft humming makes my hairs stand on end and calms my heart. It is the nursery rhyme that pierced the darkness a few days ago.

I open my eyes to try and meet hers in the mirror, but there is a third person stood in between the two of us. Her cold, dark blue eyes are so sharp and undoubtedly laced with venom. Shaking my head in an attempt to get rid of that traumatizing image works. The gasp that accompanied my erratic movement, however, snaps me out of it. A trickle of blood flows down my throat and runs down to my shirt. Her hand intercepts it, as the other wipes it away with a cloth. Trying to apologize verbally, a pinching ache stops me from doing so.

My frustration at my inability to speak is quickly sizzled out as she leans into me, shushing me as she dresses my wounds. Once she is done, I will hold her so tightly with the promise that things will be better soon enough.

In-character Addendum: While my life might seem hard, I cannot express how happy I am with the support that I receive from everyone around me. Not only from my friends and family, but also from my fiancé. She is not only the love of my life, but also my best friend. We all make bad decisions that we will regret so much, that it might crush you at the time and plunge you into the darkest depths. But as you persevere and create chances to make new decisions based on what you have learned, life can blossom again. Hang in there. Everything can and will only get better if you have hit rock bottom.