Let’s Do This Together

**Daniel's POV**

As the evening shadows crept across the room, I handed Emma the small orange bottle of antidepressants and sleeping pills, the ones prescribed by her psychiatrist. My hands lingered over hers, feeling the cold that seemed to perpetually cling to her skin these days. She offered a faint smile, a ghost of her former warmth, and took the medication.

Watching her slip under the covers, I felt a surge of protectiveness. I couldn't leave her side—not tonight. As her breathing evened out into the rhythm of sleep, I lay down beside her, wrapping my arms around her fragile form. My mind, however, refused to quiet, haunted by the fear of losing her not just to Michael's cruelty but to the shadows that now seemed to engulf her spirit.

Sleep eventually claimed me, but it brought no peace. I found myself in a nightmare where the world was drained of color, a gray wasteland. Emma was there, walking away from me towards a precipice that overlooked an abyss. I called out to her, my v