“I’m sorry, I…” he coughs, and a small trail of blood slides out of the corner of his mouth.
My hands are on him immediately. Shelby is already putting pressure on his chest, and I feel useless.
“Shh, it’s okay. Where’s your phone? I’ll call for help,” Shelby pleads.
“Should we take his shirt off, what can we do?” I ask Shelby, but she doesn’t answer, just looks down at Leon.
His hands are covered in blood, but his palm cups her her face. “I love you, baby, always know that,” he rasps before turning to face me. Shelby presses her face against his chest asshe sobs in his arms. His blood mars her pretty blonde hair as she holds on to him like the pressure of her head will stop the wound.
“We didn’t even get a chance,” Shelby sobs out, and mine follow hers.
My brother looks back at me, his brown eyes which mirror mine are hooded, and all I want to do is protect him for once. He’s spent his entire life looking out for me, making sure I was taken care of. I want to be able to do the same for him. He deserves to have someone protect him for a change.
“I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Lily. I didn’t…” He coughs again, and I want him to stop talking as much as I want all the time in the world left with him. “…want any of this to happen,” he whispers as tears flow down the side of his face. I wipe them away, my own tears dripping down my cheeks as I try to hold onto my mental control of this moment. My body has different plans, and my vision keeps going hazy, but I shuffle around the floor until I find a wad of gauze in a drawer.
I slide back and touch Shelby’s head, getting her to move. She gasps but moves for a moment. Shelby and I work together to fill the wound in his chest.
The gauze does nothing.
As soon as we shove it in, it’s soaked in blood and useless.
“Leon, I need you. You can’t go,” I sob, continuing to push more gauze into the wound. “Don’t leave me, I need you!” I nearly shout. Not even caring who hears me.What’s the fucking point of making it out of here alive if Leon doesn’t.
He just made Shelby his ol’ lady; they are perfect for each other. She brought the smile back to his face, even though he was clearly going through some serious shit.
Everything fucking hurts as I watch as my brother’s breathing becomes rattled and shallow. I know that there’s nothing Shelby and I can do. Unless someone gets here fast.
“What else can we do?” I ask Shelby. For the first time, she's devoid of words, just shakes her head and holds my brother.
He opens his mouth to speak again, and I shush him, my own tears splattering against his skin. With how hard he had to try to speak last time… I can’t have him pushing himself any further than he already has.
“Just breathe, Leon,” I tell him.
Shelby digs around his pocket and finds his phone. I’m not sure who she’s calling, but it goes unanswered. It’s the moment she completely falls apart; she gently falls back on his chest, trying to use her body weight to stop the bleeding.
Gunshots are going off in the house, but I ignore them. Nothing matters in a world without Leon in it.
There’s so much blood, and I don’t know what to do. “What do I do, Leon? You always know what to do,” I plead with him, but his eyes begin to shut.
I use my thumb to rub his face. Shelby’s sobs are muffled against his clothes as she holds onto him for dear life like sheer power of will could keep him alive.
“We didn’t have enough time. Please, Leon. Please stay with me,” Shelby begs on a choked sob. I want to beg him to fight, to stay with both of us, but I know these are his final breaths.
He says nothing to her, just holds her hand. He blinks up at me one last time as I watch his chest stop rising and falling.
His hand goes limp in Shelby’s.
He’s gone.
I don’t know what he did, why he was here. I don’t even really care if he was a rat. He spent the last moments of his life trying to free Shelby and me, just like he spent all his waking moments taking care of me. I close his eyes as I cradle his face in my hands and mourn.
I mourn my brother, the life I was supposed to have, the very essence of who I wanted to be.
Every part of me feels dead.
Leon was supposed to marry Shelby; hell, maybe build a pack with her and give me a football team of nieces and nephews. Leon was supposed to live a full, happy life. But in a single moment, his life ended, and it feels like it’s all my fault.
All I feel is pain. Every part of my body aches, and I do the only thing I can at this moment. I lay all the way down and rest, my brother’s blood pooling next to me as I lie in a fetal position on the floor.
