"The sad thing is, the moment you start to miss someone, you know they're already gone."

- Lang Leav

The next morning wasn't any better than the last. Tiffany sat beside Taeyeon, the world still running but she did not. Taeyeon wasn't even there, she was, in the doctor's words, already gone. It was just one pull of a plug that would truly satisfy the feeling.

It wasn't right. It didn't feel right. How could she be possibly gone when she was right there? She wasn't gone, she wasn't gone just yet. She could still hold her, kiss her cheek, and whatever hair she had left.

She wasn't gone. Not yet.

Not until she made her decision anyway.

Tiffany looked at the gold engagement ring on the table next to Taeyeon's bed. Jondalar had made one thing very clear :

"I want you to marry me. I've been thinking about it even before I left, but I never had a chance. Now that you're here, I don't ever want to let go."

Tiffany looked at him with disbelief. "Jondalar..I can't...."

"What's holding you back?" They both looked at Taeyeon.

"She was..more than a roommate, Jondalar. Do you understand?"

"But she's nothing now." He tried to grab Tiffany's hand to slid the ring in, but she held Taeyeon's instead.

"You can't just throw that question at me."

"Tiffany, it's been years."

"Years I've spent with her! I can't answer you right now."

"..Okay. But I can only buy time until tomorrow morning."

"What?"

"The doctors want her bed, Tiffany, and unless you can prove that it's worth keeping her alive, they have all rights to pull the plug."

"No.."

"...I want you to answer me by tomorrow, I know, this sounds antagonistic of me and I may sound cruel, but it's just reality." He placed the ring on the table. "Tomorrow morning, I'll come by here. If you accept my proposal, I want to see you wearing the ring. If you don't want to continue our relationship.." He extended his finger, tapping the wooden surface. "You can leave the ring right here, and I'll never bother you again."

So there she was, toying with the expensive accessory. She just wanted to escape. She wanted to turn into that soldier she proudly fell in love with, pick her up, and escape the horrors of the world.

She wanted to wake up from this terrible dream called reality. Pretend it never existed and that everything was okay.

That Atlas wasn't at war.

That Taeyeon was fine.

That Jondalar didn't exist anymore.

And that none of this mattered.

But Atlas was at war. Taeyeon wasn't fine. And Jondalar still existed.

And everything mattered.

She watched the sun rise from Taeyeon's window, the ruckus outside, muted by it's beauty and the sounds of the machines.

She gazed at her lover's face. The only person that mattered to her, and the only person she couldn't save.

Tiffany felt useless, her tears coming out, but her body not responding. She had cried all night, there was nothing to release anymore. Her voice was n