Coming Undone

I Hope It's Not Too Late To Say I Love You

The explosion had messed up the wires. Big time. The ground was electrified, the walls were electrified, just about everything was electrified, and there were hundreds of people out there at risk of serious shock. The only way to fix this was to turn off the power, so that's where I was going. I ran around the corner to where I was told I could find the breaker and there was Ava, hand hovering inches from the switch.

There was only one problem, the whole structure was electrified. If she touched it, she would die.

"Ava, what are you doing?" I shouted. Immediately, her head snapped up to look at me.

"I have to do this," she replied, "it's the only way to save them."

She was right. Of course she was right. I knew she was right because that's exactly what I had been on my way to do. I was wracking my brains to find another solution but I couldn't. Someone had to turn off the power. It was the only way to save everyone inside.

"No, Ava, if you do this, you'll die. We can find another way," I knew it wasn't true but I said it anyway. I couldn't just let her die. Not her.

"There is no other way, we're running out of time," she explained. She turned back towards the breaker, it was throwing off sparks now and I knew we only had a few seconds before it would be too late.

"Ava..." I had so much to say but no time to say it.

She was on electrified ground, in a dome of electricity. If I stepped in or tried to pull her out, we would both die.

"Look," she said, "I know you probably don't care much about me, and that's okay. I mean, we barely know each other, but I have to do this. I have to save them."

"Ava no!" I pleaded.

A million thoughts ran through my head at that moment. All the things I'd never said, all the times I'd held back how I felt, all the times I'd wanted more than anything to scoop her up in my arms and whisk her away and I hadn't. It all came down to this moment.

"I love you George," she called.

And then she did it. She didn't even have time to scream as the shock sent her flying across the room and threw her to the ground, motionless. I didn't stop to notice the sudden silence as the power turned off, or the cheering in the distance when people realised they were safe. I only had one thought, get to her.

I sprinted over to her and immediately checked her pulse. I tried to keep up my hopes but I knew what I would find. The shock had stopped her heart. Come on George you're trained for this, you know what to do next. Muscle memory kicked in and I immediately started chest compressions. Her ribs cracked under the force of my clenched hands but I couldn't think about that.

"Come on, Ava, you can do this, just come back to me," I muttered to myself.

... 18, 19, 20, rescue breath. My lips had never touched hers before and the first thing I noticed was how soft they were, like a flower petal, perfectly pink and full. But I couldn't focus on that right now. Back to chest compressions.

I heard footsteps approaching and I looked up. Jack was running towards me. He couldn't see what I was doing at first but as he came closer he stopped in shock.

"Ava?" he asked in disbelief.

"The shock stopped her heart, call an ambulance," I instructed.

My arms and shoulders were aching by this point but my actions never faltered. I had to bring her back. Jack was on the phone in the background but I couldn't hear his words through the thoughts rushing through my head. Every moment I'd spent with her ran through my mind. Every smile, every joke, every laugh was being played back to me on fast forward as if the memories were seeping out into the lifeless body in front of me, leaving me forever.