Do you trust me? He asks, his eyes welling with tenderness and inexpressible love. Don’t you know I’ll take you home?

His hand stretches gently out to mine, which lingers uncertainly by my side. I begin to speak incoherently, unanswered questions swirling uncontrollably in my head, wild confusion clouding my mind.
However, the words die at my lips when I hear his faint, almost inaudible whisper.
Don’t you know I love you?
Suddenly, all is still.
He watches me quietly, the longing in his eyes gently beckoning me closer. Slowly, his warm gaze melts my shield of fear, my shackles of distrust.
I pause, afraid to embrace the words.
He loves me.
My heart pounds within my chest, invigorating exhilaration flooding me as I take a careful step towards him, empowered with a sudden courage. However, the moment I lift my foot, I stumble, and hastily scramble back to safer ground.
He watches me in sadness, a mixture of disappointment and sympathy veiling his face.
Do you trust me?
I hesitate.
He searches my eyes with a familiar yearning, a silent lovesick plea that pierces my heart.
“Yes.”
I whisper faintly, almost inaudibly, and for a moment, I’m afraid he hasn’t heard me. I cautiously reach for his outstretched hand, brimming with an unfamiliar confidence.
“Yes, I do.”
He smiles. Tenderly, he grasps my trembling hand.

Welcome home, my child.
Suddenly, I am blinded with a dazzling radiance that floods ripples of electrifying life throughout my veins, igniting my innermost being as my eyes are opened to the sheer wonder of His splendor, the unfathomable beauty of His glittering kingdom. Tightly clutching His hand, I soar above the golden magnificence with His laughter resounding in my heart, His outstretched wings gliding me into the glowing realms of the heavens as I taste freedom for the first time…

Abruptly, the heart rate monitor emits a single, high-pitched tone as the patient’s breathing suddenly hushes to silence. The doctor looks up in surprise, sighs, and gets up to find a pair of latex gloves.
What a shame, he thinks to himself. Such a young woman, and already her life has ended before it had the chance to begin.