A lot happened at once.
Luke dumped a pitcher of water on Michael's head.
Calum, Charlie and I managed to tackle Jared to the ground and pin him down.
And Destiny kicked the dagger from his hand.
Jess frantically examined Michael's face, only relaxing when she brushed his hair back and discovered he was more or less unscathed.
And we all took a deep breath, thinking the worst was over.
That is until Destiny spoke.
"Why is there blood on this?"
Frowning, I glanced away from Jared who I was kneeling on top of, to where she stood holding his weapon which was indeed dripping blood onto the otherwise spotless white carpet.
"Did someone get stabbed?" Luke demanded, raising his shirt and examining his torso.
"I'm good." I mumbled looking down.
"Me too." Michael muttered.
"I'm fine." Charlie piped up.
"So am I." Calum added.
His eyes then scanned the room before tripling in size.
"Grace!"
Confused, I looked over and my heart sank finding Grace sitting on the floor examining her hands which were soaked in blood as if they were foreign objects which she'd never seen before.
"GRACIE!" Calum repeated running over to her and dropping to his knees beside her.
Aware of Jared cracking up underneath me, I slapped him hard across the face, only making him laugh harder.
"What happened?" Calum demanded, "Are you hurt? Where is the blood coming fro...."
Trailing off, his eyes wandered down to her blood soaked shirt then upwards to the large gushing wound between her collarbones.
"No." he breathed, "Fuc....shit....no...hang on Grace just....fuck....why the hell are all of you just sitting here! One of you call 911!"
Snapping into action, Charlie tore her gaze from Grace and hastily punched three digits into her cell phone.
Aware of Jared still cracking up beneath me, I picked up a fallen napkin and crammed it in his mouth as a sort of makeshift gag.
"You-you're going to be okay." Calum mumbled frantically, trying to simultaneously stop the bleeding both places on Grace's body at once, "Does it hurt."
Her eyes glazed, Grace opened her mouth however instead of words our dribbled a stream of blood.
"NO!" Calum whimpered, closing his eyes then hastily reopening them, "Just-don't talk okay, you'll be okay. You're okay."
"Calum." Luke said gently, "She...that's not...she's not okay."
"Shut up." Calum snapped, "Just, shut up, she'll be okay. You'll be okay just..."
Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore the wet gurgling sound that was Grace trying to breathe, which filled the air.
"Don't just sit there!" Calum cried, wiping his leaking eyes on his sleeve, "Fuck, one of you help me!"
Opening my eyes I watched as Grace suffered helplessly and Calum could only look on, unable to do anything for her.
"Calum..." Michael said gently.
"What do I do?" Calum sobbed, "Someone tell me what to do! How do I help her?"
"The ambulance is on its way." Charlie mumbled.
"What do I do until then?" he demanded, ripping his sweatshirt off and pressing it over bother her ones, one hand over one, the other over the other.
"Make sure she knows what you want her to know." Jess said gently, "....Just in case....just...just so she knows."
His face paling, Calum turned back to Grace and with a shaking hand, gently tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Do you want us to go?" Mason questioned.
"No." Calum said quickly, "If something happens...I can't-I can't handle it I won't know what to do, don't leave us."
"We won't." Destiny said softly kneeling down beside him, "Just pretend, we're not here....and...just...talk to her, take her mind off it.
Swallowing nervously, Calum looked down at his blood splattered clothes, then back at Grace.
"I-um...I love you Gracie...and not just love, you know, that's boring, love gets old. I'm into you. And not a day goes by that I'm not into you. I should be over all the butterflies, but every time I look at you, they're there. And baby, even on our worst nights...I'm into you...so fucking into you."
Struggling to breath, Grace reached out and slipped her hand into Calum's.
"You're not just by girlfriend Gracie." He sniffed, "You're my best friend and... and my soul mate, and the only person I've ever loved. When I look at you, I don't think about how great your boobs are, or how amazing your hips are....I think about how I just want to lay in bed all day with you, staring at the ceiling, drinking coffee that's gotten cold because neither one of us ones to leave the other one. I think about how when I hug you.... I feel like.... Like I'm home, no matter where I am. I think about how you smell when I kiss the top of your head and how your lips feel on mine, and dammit Grace I think about how all I want to do is spend the rest of my life getting old with you."
Seeming completely out of it, Grace stared dully ahead at Calum while he continued.
"You left me once Grace." He whispered, "Please, please, please don't do it again.... Without you, I feel broke, like I'm half of a while. Without you, I've got no hand to hold. Without you I feel torn like a sail in the storm....without you.... I'm just a sad song. I don't want to be a sad song, because I don't want to be a sad song....my taste in music is your face."
Swallowing and wincing, Grace forced a smile.
"On the way here, you fell asleep." Calum continued gently, "And I avoided every single hole... That was...that was a pain in the ass...that was... that was love. I don't...I don't know what to say, or what to tell you... I know you can't help it, you have no control over it but... but please, stay alive...for me."
"C-ca-cal." She spluttered.
"Yeah?" he asked frantically, leaning towards her, "I'm here."
"I-I-l-l-lo-love y-y-yo...."
"I know." He interrupted, cupping her face gently and kissing the end of her nose lightly, "And knowing that....that's all I need to know."
"I think I hear a siren!" Luke said suddenly, pulling me back to reality and alerting me to the fact that there was indeed a siren wailing in the distance and that tears were rolling down my cheeks in rapid succession.
"You'll be okay Gracie." Calum assured her, "Just, hang on, please."
I didn't want to look, but I also couldn't look away. The sight was heartbreaking, watching him talk to a glassy eyed, limp, pale corpse. Listening to him scream in protest when he was steered out of the room so she could be hoisted up onto the ambulance bed. But the worse sound, and the worst sight by far was the metal door closing and then the silence. I'd expected a siren, hoped for one, but when there wasn't, I realized with a sinking feeling that she must really be gone.
I've been planning on killing Grace for a while. #sorrynotsorry.
I am however sorry by how infrequent my updates have been. I've just been working a lot and dealing with some stuff, so I update when I can and I hope you guys have stuck around, and will continue to stick around to read it.
<3 thank you for reading.
