Heartstrings on Fire (Agnes and Jared) novel Chapter 808

Sometimes Sharon felt like she didn't even have the strength to eat or walk.

Everyone knew she was grappling with depression. They all thought it was a mental thing, so they set her up with a therapist.

But Agnes said, "It's not just in your head, it's like your brain is sick."

It was an indescribable feeling, like an arrow piercing straight through her heart.

Agnes continued, "Look, I'm no doctor, and I don't have a cure for you, but I can tell you this much. Back when I was in Manhattan, I interviewed hundreds of people battling depression. So many of them had tried to end it all, living through unbearable pain. But after getting help, ninety percent saw improvements, fifty percent began to live like they never had depression, and twenty percent were completely free of it, now living happily and hopeful. If you see depression as the enemy, isn't there at least a twenty percent chance for hope? The ones who recovered, they told me they can't even understand their old mindset, why they ever thought about giving up, why they contemplated suicide."

Sharon didn't respond, but Agnes was patient, and she continued, "I'm telling you this because right now, you're in a dark tunnel. You can't see where it leads, and it feels like the darkness will never end. But you can get out. There's sunshine waiting outside. When you look back after making it through, everything will make sense."

Sharon looked at Agnes, her eyes full of confusion. "Is that true?"

"Yes, I promise."

Agnes was right. Sharon felt like she was walking through that dark tunnel. She'd been in it for years, and the little courage and confidence she had left had been burned to ash by despair.

She couldn't go on, because she couldn't see any hope. But suddenly someone was telling her there was a way out. There had to be. She desperately needed that assurance.

She never thought Agnes would be the one to give her that message.

Sharon looked up, "Why are you telling me all this? Why are you encouraging me? Don't you dislike me?"

"Why would I dislike you?"