I Can't Lose Her {Stephew}

Memories

Matthew sat by his wife's hospital bed, crying openly.

The only thing keeping Stephanie alive right now was the ventilator, and there was no chance of her ever coming out of her coma.

Neither Matt nor the doctors knew what had happened to Steph, and aside from her being basically dead, there was no difference in her condition between today and yesterday.

Matt smiled sadly as he remembered all of his good times on his adventure with Stephanie.

Matt grinned as he recorded a big red sign reading "LOVE" and read it over and over again. He smiled as his girlfriend joined him in repeating the word. He then turned the camera around on them.

"We're in it."

"Stephanie Cordato, mountaineer, dressed in full climbing attire."

Matt tried not to laugh as Steph waved at the camera and threw out what looked to him like a dance move.

"Sunglasses, pink leather bag, and all."

Matt whooped jokingly as Steph made it to the top of the mountain and struck a pose.

"Snowball...plus Stephanie...equals good time."

Matt grinned as he charged at Steph, holding a snowball.

Knowing what was coming, she ran.

"The chase is on!"

Eventually, Matt caught up with her and beamed her with the snowball.

"Victory is mine!"

Matt couldn't believe it was all over. He had loved Stephanie with all of his heart, and he would never see her smile again.

Stephanie laughed as Matt picked her up in his arms.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

Matt began to spin around, still holding Steph.

Steph giggled.

"Matthew, don't drop me!"

Matt pretended to be dizzy and to nearly drop Steph, to which she squealed.

"Matthew!"

Matt laughed as he set her back down and kissed her forehead.

Matt sat on his couch, on his phone, playing a game.

Matt glanced at the clock on his phone; it showed 2:33 AM.

Matt was about to start the next level when he felt his headphones being yanked off his head.

"Wait a minute, are you playing mobile games?"

Startled, Matt looked up and saw his wife, glaring at him.

Matt made a move to hide his phone behind his laptop.

"N-no!" Matt stuttered as he looked back at his laptop.

"No, I'm working!"

"Are you-you're playing them again?"

"Are you-wait a minute, are you filming this?

"Would you stop playing them sometime?"

Matt jumped up from the couch.

"No, don't film this, don't film this! Oh my-"

"I'm gonna film your addiction! You're addicted! You're addicted!"

Matt would never forget their good times together, before fame, before GTLive...before the worst couple weeks of their lives.

"Mr. Patrick?"

Matt looked up. A doctor was standing in the doorway.

"I'm very sorry, sir, but your wife is never going to wake up. We don't have an explanation for it, but her vital organs seem to have just given up for no reason. That, combined with the brain trauma that she's been suffering the past few weeks, has sent her into another coma, this one permanent. The machines will keep her alive, but there's no chance she's going to wake up. I can't even begin to understand how hard this must be for you, but this leaves you with a choice."

Matt sobbed uncontrollably.

He loved Steph with all his heart, but he couldn't let her go on forever, still in pain.

"I'll let you think about it, sir."

The doctor left the room, and Matt put his hands over his eyes.

He had to let Steph go.

Matt held his wife's hand and looked her in the eye.

"Steph, words will never cover what you mean to me. We've been together ten years now, at it has been the best ten years of my life."

"Back when I was a struggling actor, you never gave up on me. You always told me that as long we were together, everything would be okay."

"When I gave up on acting and decided that I wanted to do youtube, you encouraged me every step of the way. You never gave up on me, even when I gave up on myself."

"You were truly the one person who I cared about the most, and I know you felt the same way."

Matt took a deep breath.

"And I know that it's not fair to not let you go. You have been too good to me."

Matt put his lips on Steph's forehead and gave her a long kiss on it.

"Goodbye, Steph."

A few moments later, Matt was standing alone in the hospital, the love of his life gone forever, and the four words that had been nagging him for weeks still ringing in his head.

"I can't lose her."

Hey, guys, Scottsc20 here. As you can tell, things are going to get pretty depressing from here on. Sorry for the short chapter, and for not updating in forever. I'll get Chapter 13 out as soon as possible. Also, thanks to Beanbag460 for some chapter ideas!

I'd also like to give a shout out to ThatOneBookworm2005, a Stephew fan who's been reading this book, and recently started their own Stephew book, titled "Lost in Love". It's a really good book, so if you're a fan of this book and Stephew in general, please check it out! I'm very glad that I have the opportunity to collaborate with such creative writers! 

On a side note, we have just hit 1.5k reads! Thanks so much guys, this is insane!

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter!