Why do I feel this way?

Chapter 79: Goodbye

Siobhan's protectiveness emerged as she heard Vivian scream, "Daddy!!!" She laid Siobhan on the ground quickly, but gently as she shuffled instantly to her dad's side. Vivian's hands tremble across his body looking for the wound she knew would be there. As her hands rested on his lower abdomen, she felt the warm flow of fluid ooze through her fingers. Vivian was so focused on her dad that she didn't see Chris recover and stand over her— until she felt the cold metal pressed firmly to her temple.

Siobhan's desperate cries ripped through Vivian painfully knowing this was even greater torture than all the physical pain she endured by Chris' hands. Vivian looked at her dad whispering as her voice shook, "I love you, daddy..." Chris' words shot straight through her heart as he demanded she face Siobhan. The indescribable pain each woman felt was written vividly across their face as they said their final "I love you..." The brunette woman closed her eyes softly and took a deep breath before the piercing echo of the gunshot yet again rang out.

Siobhan's soul felt like it floated out of her body at the sound of the gun firing. Her eyes were closed tightly knowing that when she opened them again the devastation of her future wife laying dead on the floor might just kill her. The faint ringing in her ears was the only sound as her senses seemed to detach from reality. As her hearing faded in, she heard voices— many voices, but also one so precious to her that she expected to never hear again.

At the moment Chris placed the gun on Vivian's head, the cop had silently entered the cabin. He maneuvered expertly avoiding detection. As he silently accessed the situation, realization hit that this would not end in a peaceful talk to disarm the perpetrator. He took in a deep breath as concentration took over as he pulled the trigger. The bullet sliced through the air effortlessly before it struck Chris right between the eyes. His body crumbled with a loud thud to the wooden floor. Siobhan thought it was Vivian's body hitting the floor. Vivian stopped breathing believing that Chris had changed his mind and turned the gun on Siobhan instead. Both women fought the inner war within them to will themselves to open their eyes. After what felt like several moments, they both worked up the courage to look.

Tears overflowed from their eyes when they were met with the vision of their soulmate still in front of them— alive. Siobhan's body flooded with adrenaline giving her the energy to drag herself to Vivian. The brunette froze in shock at the rapid change in outcomes before catching Siobhan in her arms as they melted into each other— as if they were melding as one. Finally, trembling whispers broke through Siobhan's and Vivian's mouth in unison, "I thought I lost you..."

Siobhan felt Vivian's body jolt in panic as her thoughts raced back to her dad. She turned, seeing the police officer tending to his wound and heard the crunching of leaves and mumblings of the paramedic team that followed the officer to the cabin. Her body collapsed in exhaustion as the tension rapidly dissolved. A faint whisper fell from her lips and hung in the air, "we are all making it out alive..." Siobhan let a small smirk form across her face, "well... not Chris..." In true Siobhan and Vivian fashion, they broke the heaviness surrounding them with humor. The two women pull away from each other as they lovingly gaze into each other's eyes before their lips collide in a kiss full of every unexpressed emotion felt in that moment.

The first rescue team begins their trek back to the ambulance with Beckett as the second team arrives for Siobhan. While Vivian is readying herself to walk out with Siobhan, she scans the cabin with a mindset of reflection. The horror that happened to both her and Siobhan was of course awful, but she felt a rush of empowerment and victory overcome her.

A lot of bad things happened here, but today— today love won...