‘I don’t want to lose you’: A shocking self-elimination might rock your 'Bachelor' bracket

Don't worry, "Bachelor" fans. Sarah is OK after that harrowing medical emergency cliffhanger last week. But just because she's physically fine, that doesn't mean she's in for an easy week ahead.

Rarely in Bachelor Nation has a contestant spiraled so quickly from seeming like a frontrunner to having everyone in the house – er, hotel – against them.

After Matt James says goodbye to Alana, Illeana, Kristin, Sydney and Marylynn, the next week can finally start. Aside from a cute but largely uneventful one-on-one with Serena P. and a majorly uncomfortable steamy romance-writing workshop group date, the bulk of Episode 3 centers on Sarah's drama.

Her near fainting spell, as it turns out, wasn't completely out of the blue. Her experience on the show is overwhelming, and she's torn between wanting to further explore her relationship with Matt and feeling like she isn't cut out for this.

Last week, she and Matt grew closer with a romantic one-on-one date in which she struggled but ultimately found a way to open up to him about her family. She had quit her job as a broadcast journalist and moved home to serve as a caretaker for her father, who was diagnosed five years ago with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Days later, watching other women build their own relationships with the Bachelor, Sarah's insecurities are rising and she feels she needs to talk to Matt ASAP, which means interrupting the evening portion of the group date.

"it's been hard the past two days, and I've never opened up like that with anyone as I did with you on our date," she tells him. She's struggling to flip a switch between being Matt's entire focus to watching his relationships with other women develop.

Matt reassures Sarah that he sees something between the two, but damage has been done: The remaining women are incredulous that she would interrupt their time with him just to get reassurance. But her attempts at an apology prove unfruitful, and the backlash gets to Sarah even more than her personal insecurity did.

"I really believe in the feelings I have with him, but I'm not cut out for this," she says in a tearful conversation with Katie before packing her bags. "I just can't give this my all."

Her decision, she says, is in part related to the show's drama, but also the worry that she needs to spend as much time with her dad as possible while he's still around. Katie, who lost her father a few years prior, sympathizes.

'The Bachelor' episode 2 recap: House drama explodes, medical emergency leads to a harrowing cliffhanger

On her way out, Sarah sits down with Matt, who is concerned about the "cruel and malicious" drama she describes and saddened to learn that the woman he opened up to and felt a connection with is leaving.

"I don't want to lose you," he says. Still, she feels it's her time to leave and sobs in the car while lamenting "the hardest thing I've ever done."

We're sending our condolences to fans who had her going far in their "Bachelor" brackets.

With that drama out of the way, there are plenty of new clashes promised for next week. Just when you thought Matt's dating pool was shrinking (we've gone from 32 women to 18), five new women will be joining the cast, next week's promo teased.

The road to Matt's final rose just gained a few new obstacles.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Bachelor' recap: Matt loses a frontrunner in self-elimination