Lying in his arms, her head resting on his chest, she listens to the lullaby of his steady heartbeat and the rhythm of his breathing. She tries to anchor herself to the moment, to the solidarity of him and the promise of his presence, to the love and passion that burns so brilliantly between them, but tonight, and many other nights, she does not feel the warmth or joy or even thankful contentment she searches for. She feels instead the all too familiar emptiness burning it's hole through her, a painful all-consuming nothingness that devours her soul and threatens her very existence. She tastes the tears as they start leaking haphazardly down her face. "Save me," she whispers into his skin, latching herself onto him even more tightly than before. "Save me, because I don't think I can save myself." His only reply is a soft snore, his peaceful slumber uninterrupted by the girl crumbling away to nothing in his arms.