Asher’s POV

I sat alone, staring at nothing.

The dim glow of the bedside lamp barely reached me, casting long shadows across the room. I hadn’t moved in hours. My elbows rested on my knees, my hands hanging limply between them. I barely felt the stiffness in my shoulders or the dull ache in my spine. My entire body was weighed down, as if grief itself had settled into my bones and made a home there.

The air in the room was stale. My shirt clung to my back, damp with cold sweat. I hadn’t changed in days, hadn’t cared enough to. My jeans were wrinkled, stained with something I...