He doesn’t open his eyes. But his fingers twitch twice.
And I break again.
“Please,” I whisper, “fight for me. For them. For us.”
Footsteps.
I shoot up, grabbing the gun beside me. My hands don’t shake now. I move on instinct. Aim. Breathe. Wait.
A whistle cuts the air, and I answer it.
My first time whistling back.
Ryker bursts from the trees, blood on his hands and urgency in his eyes. Behind him, an older man with a weathered face and a heavy bag slung across his chest.
The doctor.
Thank God.
They rush toward us, and I fall back to my knees, one hand on Knox’s chest, the other brushing his hair back again and again like I can keep him tethered here.
“Hold on, my Reaper,” I whisper.
The older man doesn’t hesitate.
He drops to his knees beside Knox like he’s done this a thousand times in a thousand worse places, already reaching for his bag. The second he sees the wound, his jaw tightens.
“Shit,” he mutters, tearing open a sterile pack. “Through the left side of his stomach, possibly hit a vein, maybe worse. He’s cold. Pale.”
He cuts away the shredded, blood-soaked fabric clinging to Knox’s chest, revealing skin that’s gone too still.
I don’t even realize I’m on my knees until my palms press into the dirt.
Sean says to himself. “Okay. Okay.”
He grabs gauze, scissors, a clamp, something metal and sharp. I don’t know what it is. I only know it’s bloody fast.
And then, Knox’s body twitches.
His fingers jerk once.
Then nothing.
Sean pauses. “Wait,”
The rise and fall of his chest halts. My lungs seize.
Knox’s eyes stay shut. His mouth slackens.
“Fuck, he’s crashing,” Sean snaps. “His heart, shit.”
I can’t move. I can’t think.
Sean throws himself over Knox’s body, and the world narrows to nothing but his hands and that unresponsive chest. He starts CPR, slamming his palms into him with harsh, brutal force. His rhythm controlled.
“One, two, three—four, don’t you fucking go quiet on me, soldier!”
His arms lock and unlock. Over and over. Thirty compressions. Then he leans down, seals his mouth over Knox’s, and breathes life into him.
