The monitor stopped beeping as a green line went across it, straight into infinity. Her cheeks were turning white. There was no rise and fall motion of her chest. A wisp of auburn hair fell across her face, and he stretched out his hand to tuck it behind her ear. When his fingers grazed over her skin, he shrank.

"You're so cold,"he  muttered.
Craig heaved a sigh in the silence.
"And it's final. I wish I had you with me longer, baby. My world is falling apart without you in it, and I don't even know if I can ever put the pieces together. I'm hopeless without you. Can't you see?" He lifted himself, albeit his knees were shaking, and his face was covered in sweat.

Then he lowered his frame onto the bed, and trailed his index finger over her face, the same way she did to him at the party.
"I love you,"  he whispered.
A tear escaped his eye and splattered on her hospital clothes.

"I'll always love you."

He bent over her body, shocked by the silence hovering above her bed, but he wasn't deterred. He snaked his arm under her neck, bringing her face closer to his, whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

The way her head jolted forward and dropped broke his heart, and he struggled to keep himself from convulsing. He was placed his head on her neck, listening for a pulse hidden somewhere. Then he kissed her eyes, her nose and ears. Each kiss was laden with something deeper, stronger than love. He was staring at her frame close up, thinking of what it would be like to make love to her. Right there. Right then. In front of God and everybody.
His tears fell faster than he willed them, seeping through her clothes so that they stuck to her body. As at then, he could see nothing else but Novah. Could hear nothing else but the sound of her silence. Could taste nothing else but the saltiness of her skin. And then the urge came over him that he couldn't resist. Kiss her, man. Don't be a chicken.

"I can't do this to you. I can't keep feeling you when you're dead. Damnit it, you're not supposed to drive me insane by your body anymore. What's this control you have over me, baby?" He whispered loud enough for her not to hear.

Craig brought his lips closer to Novah's, giving himself enough time to back away if he wanted. The smell of jasmine wafted through his nostrils. Her. She smelled like jasmine.

"You won't believe how badly I want to kiss you right now," he breathed.

"Since when did you have to ask for permission to do that?" Her lips weren't moving, but she was communicating with him.

"Please. I want this badly, more than anything," he begged.

Then his lips came crashing down on hers. He devoured every part of her lips available to him, kissing his heart away. He nibbled at her lower lip, crying. The tears were more for her than for himself, what she'd lost and would never find again.

"Pardon me, sir, but you might want to keep your hands off the corpse," the doctor said as he slammed the door behind him.
Craig clenched his fists and kissed her again.

"I'm not going to allow some old man to tell me when I can, or cannot touch my girlfriend. You're beautiful, baby. Even in death, you're my happiness," he cooed, caressing her lips.

"Really? I guess that explains a lot," the  doctor sneered.

Craig narrowed his eyes and snapped, "Like what is that even supposed to mean?"

"You've had sex with her, haven't you? " The doctor paced the room, coming to a stop in front of Craig.
He opened his mouth to say something, decided against it and closed his mouth again. Then he toyed with his hands in his laps, his cheeks flaming hot.
"And what if I have?"

"Your girlfriend was pregnant."

Craig's pupils dilated, and he shot up." How long gone was she?"

"Two weeks."

When he heard that, his shoulders slumped and he put his face in his hands. She hadn't told him. She knew. But she didn't tell him. In her chest were locked many secrets that she never got to share with him. What if she lived? Would she tell him? In her chest were locked so many secrets that wouldn't be unraveled. He stared at her body without recognizing it. Was she the same girl that he just kissed a few minutes ago? Why didn't she tell him that she was carrying his baby? Chills ran down his spine, causing him to shiver. His head throbbed as if it was hit hard by a rock, and his muscles felt like jelly.

"I would have made her keep the baby," he choked.

Craig roamed his hands over her stomach. She had been pregnant. A smile stretched across his lips, then it was replaced by a frown.

"She told me."

Their jaws dropped at the sight of the person who said that. Isla. When did she even reach the hospital? Who let her in? Her hair hung in a tangled mess about her head, and her bloodshot eyes distracted him for a minute.

"You were crying,"  he observed, removing his hands from Novah's stomach.

"She told me," Isla repeated. She folded her arms and rested her head against the door frame, pursing her lips. Her chest heaved up and down.

"And whether I've been crying or not is none of your damn business," she added.

Did she even have a heart? Could she feel anything? Sorrow? Pain? Anger? Love? What in the world could have transpired between Novah and her that could have led to the former revealing her pregnancy to her? Craig studied Isla in a new light. He was so wrong about her. Craig thought, She knew that Novah was pregnant even when I didn't. How much more does she know? How much more?