“Oh, Cooper.” Skyla wraps us all in her wings, and in a moment we disappear in a blaze of heated glory.
* * *
The lab at Whitehorse materializes around us as Ezrina shouts orders.
“Hang on, you bastard. I’m not through with you,” I howl over at Coop as I land him on a gurney in that glass casket graveyard Ezrina has in the back of the lab. Empty tubes of blue keeping solution fill the cavernous room, giving it an ethereal hue, making Coop look dead as a doornail, and the sight of it makes my stomach turn.
“Cooper!” Laken cries, frantic by my side.
Coop’s left arm falls off the side of the gurney and nearly rips off his body entirely. I quickly pick it up and land it over his torso.
“Coop,” I bellow as his eyes struggle to open.
He looks to me then Laken.
“I’m dying,” he says, his voice cracked and rough as gravel.
“You’re going to live,” I shout it like a command right over his face. “Fight, dammit,” I yell as Ezrina, Heathcliff, and Skyla quickly gather supplies.
“I can heal him. Take my blood,” Skyla shouts as she grabs a scalpel off a nearby table and holds out her wrist as she positions herself to slit it.
“Ms. Messenger.” Dudley thunders her name and she stops cold, her eyes meeting with his as they engage in an unspoken conversation. Skyla bolts to Laken’s side, and the reality of what this must mean gives this moment a surreal effect.
“No,” I shout once again. “You do not leave us.” My words choke me with emotion. “You fight forLaken. You fight for yourkids. You don’t get to give up like a damn pussy. You hear me?” I grab for his shirt and end up with a fistful of blood instead.
A smile swims on his lips as his body begins to convulse, and even Ezrina has ceased in her efforts to help him.
“Wesley.” Coop winces, as blood runs down his face in lieu of sweat. “You’re a brother to me, man.” His body bucks as he winces. “Love her. Take care of her.” He grunts hard as his eyes shift to Laken and she all but falls over him. I hold her up in an effort to stop her from inadvertently killing him, to keep her from drowning in his blood.
“Laken”—he chokes out her name—“I love you so damn much. Take care of the kids. I love you all so much. I’ll always be with you.” He glances my way. “It’s okay. Go to Wes. Keep strong. I’ll wait for you.” His head ticks to the side, his eyes roll into the back of his head as his body ceases to move, and his chest depresses one last time as Cooper Flanders expires his final breath.
Laken and I cry out over his body, we command for him to return, to never leave us, and we tell him that we love him. We sob like children in great distress.
The room gives a soft rumble, and we calm ourselves a moment to process what fresh hell this might be. And before we can say a word, the room fills with a soft glow as Candace Messenger appears in all her ethereal glory. Her white flowing gown shimmers like a star as she holds out a hand his way.
A spasm of electric blue light explodes in the room before softening, and then we see him. Cooper Flanders rises out of his body like a ghost, a spiritual phantasm forever free of his earthly chains, his countenance shining and new, not a single wound to call his own, not a hair out of place. He is holy and right, and everything in me demands to trade places with him.
“Don’t cry.” Cooper wipes the tears from Laken’s eyes. He takes up her hand and places it in mine, bringing them both to his lips. “I love you.” He looks to Laken then me. “I love you both.” He nods to Laken. “This isn’t goodbye. I can promise you that. I’ll make sure I’m still in your life. There’s no stopping me from it. But for now I have to go. I will see you again. This much I know is true.”
The room grows dark as Candace and Cooper evaporate to nothing.
Laken lets out a ferocious cry. Her body twists with grief, and I catch her before she hits the ground.
All I hear are Laken’s protests, mine as well.
We hold one another and weep enough bitter tears to flood the universe.
To hell with everything. This is never what I wanted. Never this. Cooper Flanders, damn it all to hell. I loved you like a brother all these years. I still love you. Every day you will haunt me. Laken and I will crave you until the day we die. This wound will never heal. Not until we’re with you again. Only then will we be whole. Only then my friend. Only then.
Laken and I hold one another with Cooper’s blood dripping from us.
This is not the way it was supposed to be.
This is not how Cooper Flanders was supposed to go down.
Yes, he was once my enemy, but he was my brother and I loved him.
I have always loved him. I always will.
