"Maksim! No!" Her voice is fading, like she's moving away from me.
Or I'm moving away from her.
Into the dark.
Into the quiet.
Into…
A sharp slap across my face jerks me back.
"Wake up!" Kira's face swims into focus above me. "You don't get to give up! Do you hear me? You don't get to die after finally admitting you love me!"
"Not fair." The words barely form.
"I'll use whatever works." Another slap, lighter this time. "Stay awake. Talk to me.”
"Don't want to." Speaking is getting harder. Each word requires monumental effort.
"Too bad." Her hand is on my face now, gentle despite the desperation. "Tell me about where we will live after this is over.”
The car swerves again, but I barely feel it anymore. Everything is distant, muffled.
"Five minutes!" Semyon shouts. "Kira, how is he?"
"Losing too much blood." Her hands press harder, but I can feel the warmth pooling beneath me. Too much. Way too much. "I can't—I can't stop it."
"Just get us there!" Anya's voice, high and frightened.
The car accelerates even more.
"Maksim, look at me." Kira's face fills my world. "Remember the creek? Remember what we said?"
The creek. Making love. Her body against mine. The feeling that maybe, just maybe, we could fix this.
"Remember." Barely a whisper now.
"You said I was yours. That I'd always be yours." Her tears fall faster. "Well, you're mine too. You don't get to leave me. Not now. Not ever."
"Not... leaving." But even as I say it, I know it's a lie.
My body is shutting down. Systems failing one by one. I can feel it happening, powerless to stop it.
"We're here!" The car screeches to a halt.
Doors opening. Voices shouting. Hands on me, lifting.
Kira's face above me as Semyon carries me inside. Her lips moving, saying something I can't quite hear anymore.
I'm sorry. I want to tell her I'm sorry for everything. For wasting so much time. For dying just when we found each other again.
But the darkness is winning.
And I'm too tired to fight it anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Kira
