Watching it all unfold in front of me reminded me of how I hadn’t been able to save my parents either. There had been an attack on us by another pack and my mother had been killed. My father had been unable to carry on living without her and he’d taken his own life.
I’d never understood how he could have taken his life and left me without a parent. Luckily I’d been old enough to take over the alpha role and that had given me something to focus on. It had pulled me through a dark time. It was only when I was on the verge of losing Keri that I understood my father’s drastic actions.
There had been no time to show her just how much she meant to me. She knew I loved her but she had no idea how much. It was too soon. I needed more time with her.
The moment her vitals dropped below the safe levels, the machines started an alarm that made my heart start to race. I was starting to second-guess my decision but it was already too late. Living with the consequences of the outcome was something I would have to deal with if she didn’t make it.
This can’t be happening, I kept thinking over and over again. Then she flat-lined and I felt air lock in my lungs as I fixed my eyes on her still form.
Panic and fear began to set in as every second that ticked past took her further away from us.
“Breathe,” I whispered, trying to will her into action.
Silence. I felt eyes on me but the only person who mattered at that moment was Keri.
I leaned closer to her. There was no giving up without a fight.
“You need to fight,” I commanded her as desperation leaked into my voice.
Curtis watched the machine anxiously.
"I need more time with you...I don't think I can live without you," I revealed to her. There was no way to know whether she could hear me or not, but I had to put what I was feeling into words.
"Come on. You can do it," Curtis encouraged as he glanced down at her. Gone was the facade of the doctor and I got a glimpse of the friend in him that was just as scared as we were of losing her.
"Can't you do something?” Kyle asked Curtis as he crossed his arms to try and keep them still. Cade pulled a tearful Scarlett closer into his side as a sob tore through her.
"There is nothing I can do. She needs to pull through on her own," he said softly, still with his eyes fixed on the machine.
"I can make you happy," I whispered as I leaned closer, taking in her beauty for possibly the last time. Scarlett began to cry softly.
Curtis looked at his watch and I knew that he'd expected her heart to start beating already.
"Fight to live and I promise to love you every day for the rest of your life. I promise you I will make you happy and give you everything you ever wanted,” I promised, meaning every word with everything I was.
We all wanted to hear the sound of the machine beating with her life, but instead it gave us the silence of her death.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Keri
The darkness comforted me. It swirled around me and kept the pain at bay. Somehow through the thickness surrounding me, I could hear his voice. It soothed me and it made me feel safe.
I held on to the sound of his voice like a lifeline. I don’t know if I was locked in my mind or somewhere else but I was fighting my way back. I wanted to open my eyes and break free from the hold that it had on me.
“Wake up, Keri,” Blake said softly. I wanted to wake up for him but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move. The darkness kept me in its clutches, refusing to let me go.
Blake, I screamed in my mind, but he couldn’t hear me.
“What?” Blake said.
Even through the haze I could tell he was anxious, even a little scared.
“Just spit it out,” he demanded of someone.
Something was wrong.
“Every day that she remains unresponsive…her odds of waking up decrease,” I heard another voice say softly with sadness. I knew that voice.
