To the staff and other patients, he appeared as a man whose soul was unraveling, every fiber of his being pleading for more time, for a miracle that seemed increasingly elusive.

In a compassionate gesture, the doctors granted his request to say a final goodbye. The room, already intimate and small, seemed to shrink further as he sat down, clutching her hand with a desperate tenderness.

Her skin was cold, her fingers limp, and yet he held on as though he could somehow transfer his warmth, his life, into her still form. He leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, a ritual he had repeated countless times over the past months.