The Very first moment I beheld him, my heart was irrevocably gone. ~ Jane Austen, Love and Friendship.There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison. ~ Jane Austen, Persuasion. VioletHe tasted like mine and yet he wasn’t. I didn’t know how that could be possible but it was and if all I could ever have of him was this connection between us then it’ll be what I’ll have.I slipped my fingers into his hair and his hands slipped around my waist, pulling me into him. Our bodies pressed into each other like they were glued or we were born to fit like this. Two pieces of the same puzzle. He picked me up and I wrapped my arms and legs around him like I had done millions of times before or like it was just an act I remembered from my past life. His sherry eyes were dark with emotions that I knew mirrored in mine, so many unspoken words remained between us but all our lips could do was kiss each other and we hoped the other person understood the un

Two weeks later...ColeI sat in the darkness that was only punctured by a low fluorescent lamp on the other side of the sofa on which I was sitting. The heavy silence surrounding me felt suffocating, the kind where every breath stabs in the lungs. And as I struggled to breathe, the world around me seemed to be peacefully sleeping. Along with the woman on the hospital bed.I wrenched my gaze from her sleeping form and looked up at the ceiling. I was on the eighth floor of the hospital that was considered to be the best and yet they couldn’t wake her up. Like the rest of the world she was sleeping too, but unlike the rest of the world she has been sleeping for a long time now. Coma. The first letter word with a power that put the one person’s life on hold, affected others who were close to them, while the whole world around moves at their regular pace like nothing happened.She hasn’t woken up since the last time I left her— six years ago, except she did fifteen days ago and as fate ha

PrologueEighteen months later...Violet‘You should stay for dinner with us.’ Hailey signed as I picked up my purse when I saw it was already six in the evening.I ruffled her hair and signed back, ‘Maybe some other day.’She narrowed her eyes at me, because as sweet as she was, she was also smart. She recognised my words for what it was. Excuses. ‘You always say that.’“Stop pestering her, munchkin.”We both turned to look at Kevin, who entered the house in dark blue jeans and white polo shirt. He was like a typical father figure we watch in daily soaps and even though he was gentle and always respects the boundaries I have set for our friendship, I couldn't make myself feel what I once felt for the man that should not be named. I liked him enough but not as much as he liked me. Maybe I should try harder, if I shouldn’t hold onto my dark past then I shouldn’t hold on to those feelings as they were in the past too.Coming toward us, he bent down and greeted his daughter with a hug an