Breathe

Chapter 36: Take a Minute...

Welcome to our final chapter. Enjoy! And Breathe...

Chapter 36: Take A Minute...

Previously...

Addison could see the pointer finger moving to the trigger and looked at Aelwyne, trying to calm her. Aelwyne stilled and just looked at her for a few seconds. She could see more fear and horror swirling in her golden eyes than she had ever seen before. The intern kept on fighting but even with all her trashing and all her pleading the finger was still there, ready to pull that trigger.

"I love you." Addison smiled through her tears and closed her eyes.

"No. No. Please! Don't! Ethan! No! PLEASE!"

Everything was a blur. Ethan. The gun. Everything was fading away. The smell of copper and smoke had passed through her nose. The arm around her throat squeezed harder and dark blotches began to invade her line of sight as the oxygen in her lungs depleted. The ringing in her ear from the gunshot was all she could hear. But then the ringing stopped, the smell was gone, and darkness enveloped her whole.

***

It hurt. Her throat. Her head. It hurt. She forced her eyes open and found herself in a quiet hospital room. She stared up at the ceiling, the beeping sounds of the heart monitors surrounded her. The sound was steady but soon it began to beep more frequently as images from the bridge flooded her mind. Ethan. The gun. The smell. The noise. The darkness. Addison.

"Addison." She sprang up pulling at the lines, her voice a bit hoarse.

The dull ache on her head intensified a bit. Then there were arms around her. She began to pull away frantically. She had to find her. Had to find Addison. She needed to see her.

"Addison." She repeated.

"Aelwyne." The person holding her spoke.

Aelwyne turned quickly, ignoring the ache on the side of her head, and faced the person that spoke. There she was. There was Addison. She scanned her up and down searching for where the bullet had hit her. She looked fine, not a fair out of place and her makeup intact.

"I'm ok." Addison gently cupped her face.

"You're ok?" Aelwyne asked in a shaky voice, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm ok." Addison repeated and she jumped forward trying to feel as much of the redhead as she could. Addison pulled back after a while and lifted her chin gently so that Aelwyne was looking at her. "You are going to be ok." She said with a sad smile.

"We're going to be ok." Aelwyne smiled too.

"Everything is going to be ok." Addison said again. "Just know that I love you and I always will." She added.

"Why are you..." Aelwyne began but was interrupted as the door swung open and Mark walked in with a somber look on his face.

Aelwyne looked at him confused and then back at Addison but when she did Addison was not there. She looked around the room but there was no sign of the redhead. She looked at Mark and noticed that aside from his somber expression there were unshed tears in his eyes.

"Where did she go?" Aelwyne asked, beginning to panic. "Where is Addison, Mark?"

"Aelwyne..." His voice sounded strangled and she shook her head.

"She was just here. Where did she go? Where is Addison, Mark? Where is she?!" Her voice broke and cracked as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.