“Come on, Tiffany,” I growl as I continue to press her chest. “Don’t you fucking leave me.”
I go back to giving her two breaths, yet there is no change.
“Nic,” I can hear it in Mason’s voice. He wants to tell me to stop.
I shake my head. This time, I don’t try to fight back the tears that are pouring down my face.
“No,” I sob. “No.”
I go back to doing compressions, counting to thirty in my head. Everyone is standing around silently watching me fight to bring my wife back.
The hand on my shoulder from Salv doesn’t stop me.
“Come on, baby. Come on. Breathe for me, Tiff. You have to fucking breathe.” I’m down to pleading for her to come back.
Silence.
My arms grow tired from swimming and the compressions. My shoulders burn, but I won’t stop.
“Nic,” Mason calls my name more harshly this time. When I look up into his eyes, he shakes his head.
Everything inside me breaks down. I toss my head back and let out a deep guttural yell. Salv grabs me and wraps me in his arms, and I cry. My body shakes with my sobs. She can’t be gone. This can’t be the end.
Mason pushes up his sleeves and takes over the compressions.
“Come on, sis. Fight. Fight for him,” I hear him pleading with her too.
On the ground, with my brother’s arms wrapped around me, I let out my sorrow. I haven’t cried this hard since my parents died.
Not even when I was going through hell at that fucking boy’s home did I feel pain like this. I’ve just lost the love of my life. The one person I was supposed to protect. I would not survive this.
I hear it. A choking wet sound and then a gasp.
“Fuck!” Mason shouts.
He wraps Tiffany in his arms, hugging her to his body. I kick out of Salv’s arms and crawl over to my wife. I snatch her from Mason and pull her to me, kissing her all over her face.
“How far off is that ambulance?” Kaz shouts.
“I hear it.” Ghost’s voice cracks.
I don’t pay attention to anything else. I bury my wife’s face in my chest and rock her body back and forth. She’s still here. She’s still alive. All is well.
Epilogue
Friends
Tiffany
The sound of beeping pulls me out of a hazy sleep. The first thing I do before opening my eyes is to take account of my body. My limbs feel heavy, like they weigh a hundred pounds each. My throat is scratchy and my mouth is dry. But I don’t feel any pain, unlike before. Unlike….
My eyes pop open. I’m in a hospital room. I try to move, but that was a bad idea. Sharp pain shoots through my head.
“Whoa, take it easy.” I smell his familiar scent before I see his face. Nico takes a seat beside me. There is a dark bruise on his cheek, and his top lip is cut. I attempt to lift my arm to touch his face, but I can’t move it.
“No,” he says, gently touching my arm. “Your shoulder is dislocated. They have you in a sling.”
“Your face.” I finally get my incredibly dry mouth to make a sound.
