Guardian [Completed]

Twenty-One (Devina)

The bullet hit me square in the chest.

I knew wounds. This one was fatal. The chances of surviving were very slim.

I was barely aware of Josh saying, “No, Devina. No!” as he laid me across his lap.

I looked up at his face. He was beautiful even through his tears.

There was a shuffling that seemed far off in the distance.

“It will be okay, Devina,” Josh said.

But I was not afraid.

To my right, I saw a bright white light manifest against the pale blue walls of Josh’s living room. I watched as it grew to a blinding peak and quickly fade to reveal two people. Two people I knew very well.

My breath hitched as my sight settled on my parents for the first time in seventeen years.

My mother was astonishingly beautiful. Her dark brown hair surrounded her face in waves and her bright green eyes were aflame with love.

My father was devastatingly handsome. His brown hair complemented his ice blue eyes. His strong jaw gave him an odd sort of confidence. He looked just like Torin.

They came over to me and rested on their knees, just as Josh was doing. They each took one of my hands.

“Oh Devina,” my mother sighed with pride.

“Mama,” I replied. Or maybe I didn’t say a word. They heard me. That was all that mattered.

“You’re so beautiful.”

I started to cry.

“So are you,” I said. “How are you here?”

“We have always lived inside you, Devina. We’ve watched over you every single day,” my father explained.

“S-so you know... everything I’ve done.”

“Everything you’ve done for you and Torin,” my mother said.

“And we’ve been everywhere you’ve been. The asset turn Paris, the diplomacy summit London, the rescue mission in Moscow, the standoff in Athens...” my father trailed, naming all my major assignments.

I cried harder.

“We are so proud of you.”

“You are so brave.”

“Now we need you to be brave one last time and come with us. Let go, Devina.”

“But Torin...”

“Torin is strong because of you. He will be fine.”

“And Josh? I can’t just leave him.”

“You were going to anyway, sweetheart. You’ve done all you can for him.”

They were right. I had already left him once and was preparing to do so again. He would be fine without me. He was strong, just like Torin.

“Let me say goodbye,” I requested.

“Of course, honey.”

I looked up at Josh’s anguished face. I hoped that when I left with my parents I would always remember him. His fear when he arrived on my doorstep. His desire to know me. His face when I shouted at him for accusing me of not knowing fear for my family. His regret for intruding. His interest in Germany. His kiss on the rooftop. His joy when I took him to Disney World. His sincerity he showed with my birthday gift. His declaration of his love for me. His forgiveness when I ran out on him. His appreciation of my homeland when we arrived. His awe when he learned of my tattoos. His understanding when he learned of my fear of letting him in. His unwillingness to let me leave him a second time. His fear now of losing me forever... I wanted to remember it all.

My hand found his cheek and he covered it with his own.

“Hang on, Devina. An ambulance is on its way,” he said.

I wanted to shake my head but I had no strength. I was preparing myself to leave.

“To the well-organized mind... death is but the next great adventure,” I managed.

“No, Devina. Don’t leave me,” he begged me.

I smiled at him. Before I departed, I had to let him know the truth.

“I love you,” I whispered.

And I exhaled my final breath in this life and inhaled my first in the next.