According to Dante, the gates of hell are inscribed “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” Let that inscription lead, but not necessarily define, your piece for Friday’s link-up.

When all is lost there is hope. Hope in the future, hope in love, and hope that things will get better.

That’s what everyone kept telling her, but she knew that they were wrong and things weren’t going to get better. As a matter of fact things were getting worse day by day and keeping hope was more difficult than just accepting the inevitable. So what was inevitable… death and taxes and she sure as hell didn’t owe any money to the government. All that was left was death.

According to statistics accidents happen every day and there are some where we stand up and brush off the dirt and then there are others… like what happened to Jake.

Becca kept playing that day over and over in her head and still couldn’t figure out how it happened. One minute she was sitting on the beach watching Jake surf, something he was very accomplished at, and then next thing she knew he was being pulled out of the water by a couple other surfers and he was unconscious.

It had been almost three weeks since that day on the beach and he had yet to wake up. The doctors said that he was in a coma and that his chances of waking up were slim but she had refused to believe them. She knew that Jake was strong, healthy, and that there was no way that he would ever leave her side. She had so much hope that he would fully recover. She had to believe that he would wake up and they would continue on with their lives together as they had planned. She had hope that her love would be enough to bring him back to her.

Becca knew in the back of her mind that he was already gone after the first week and a half of sitting by his side in the hospital. She would sit there day and night and hold his hand in hers. It was cold and limp… not like that of a dead person but of someone who was not in control anymore. She would talk to him, smile, and even laugh as she talked of their lives together in hopes that she would get some sort of response out of Jake but there was nothing, not even the slightest twitch.

Hope was gone and now all that she had left was fear, a deep sadness, and she wanted to give up. Giving up would be so much easier than accepting that the love of her life was slowly slipping away from her.

The doctors gave her the options and then left her to consider what decision she would make. All she could do is hold Jake and cry and think how unfair life was.

Towards the end of the fourth week in the hospital a decision was made with family. They let Jake go.

Looking for more of the story? Check more of it out here.