Her breath was ragged and she all but clutched to his arms to hold herself up as he wound her close in an embrace. She wanted to believe his words, that there could be some help out there, but it was hard. Harder than anything else she had encountered in her life. There was a choking cough and Isobel buried her head against his narrow chest, breathing in hard.
"I don't want to go. I just... Please let me stay here. Please, Jasper. Don't... please don't make me leave here. I can't. I just... I can't leave..."