You wish you could've foreseen this. All those nights where you couldn't sleep from a severe headache, as migraines tormented you for days on end, and your appetite disappeared with each passing week.

You wished you could've seen all these signs earlier. But, really, how could you?

When Simon asked if everything was okay, you just sighed and said you were tired after work. Then he would cook dinner himself, and at night he would hug you and hold you closer, covering you with a blanket, and for that moment the pain seemed to recede. Next to him, you could always count on care and protection, in his strong arms, in gentle touches.

But your body seemed to be playing tricks on you. Every headache pill prescribed, every new method and tests brought relief, fleeting at first, and the symptoms returned with even greater force, making you cry in pain, unable to get out of bed without the possibility of losing consciousness.

You quit soon after, realizing that you couldn't go to work in a steady rhythm, complete all your tasks, and not be prone to sudden fainting. The last one was Simon's breaking point, and he personally took rode with you on an ambulance to the nearest hospital. After three weeks there, surrounded by various doctors and sent for an endless number of tests, you finally got the answer to what was wrong with you.

But it broke you even more.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, it's… There are only a few such cases registered in the country."

You were like a ship whose complete disappearance underwater was only a matter of time.

"Luv, I'm home." Simon's voice rang out, and then the front door slammed shut. "Bought some of yer favorite cakes, thought that..."

But what he saw in front of him made him freeze in place. You were sitting at the dinner table, pale from exhaustion and a dull headache. Your hands on your lap, palms sweating so much that you were sure there would be wet marks on the pants. And there's a wedding ring on the counter in front of you. Your wedding ring, taken from your finger.

“Simon, I...” You swallowed, gathering your courage. “I can't ask you to stay with me. You deserve peace, but I'm like a walking doom. I love you, that's why I wish you...”

“Don't ya dare. Don't ya bloody dare.”

He reached you in three long strides, took the ring from the table and knelt in front of you. His gaze was lost, crushed by the fact that you really wanted to break up with him, not wanting to drag him down with you.

“I'll do anythin', ya hear me? Anythin'. I'll find doctors, tell Price to bring up all the military medics, I'm not stoppin'!”

Tears were already burning your eyes, but Simon didn't stop.

“Ya won't be alone, luv. Don't ever ask me to leave ya, because those vows I made years ago matter. I'm with ya, forever.”

And maybe in the sinking of your ship, he was standing on land and pulling a rope all by himself, trying to save it. To save you.