A Dance With Death

|| Chapter 27 - Promise ||

                       

I can't feel Ava's weight on me, but she has managed to stay upright with my support. I hold her hand so that she might not stumble. I feel heat radiating from the point where my hand touches her, but I ignore the pain and continue to walk. She's barely managing to drag her feet. The tough part is climbing up the stairs, but she stumbles her way upward, refusing my offer to carry her.

While we head towards her room, we can see a few nurses and doctors hurrying inside. Ava sighs and murmurs, her voice barely audible, "I'm going to die."

Her words hurt a part of me and I protest, "No, you're not going to die. Everything's going to be okay."

The door closes in front of us before we could reach there. But I close my eyes and walk through it. Somehow, I start feeling Ava's arms around me and her body grows heavier. Her touch is like fire to my body and the pain is unbearable. I hold her tighter and fear that if I let her go, she might disappear in front of my eyes. But as soon as we enter the room, Ava screeches and pushes me away from her with tremendous force and I stumble to my left, ending up on the floor.

My eyes meet the view of doctors gathered around Ava's bed. I can't see her body. Behind them stand the three reapers, who stay silent and watch with horror at what's going on. Althea sees Ava and strides towards her, who's now laying on the floor, gasping for breath. Her body starts to flicker again. Althea kneels beside her.

I struggle to get on my feet. But as I start to make my way towards Althea, someone's hand stops me -- Griffith. My eyes meet his and he shakes his head. I stare at him wide-eyed, terrified by the look on his face.

"No . . ." I whisper. My head starts to ache and I swallow the weight in my throat. I remove Griffith's hand and glance at Ava. I can see tears in her eyes.

"Althea, do something!" I yell. I look back at Griffith. "Why aren't you doing anything?! Save her!"

The two reapers don't look at me. "Unbelievable." I step away and look at Ektor. "Ektor please! You're supposed to be the wise one!" I hurry towards him, pointing at Ava's body. "She's dying. Do something!"

Ektor stares at her body for a while. He then looks at me, his lips pursed. "I'm sorry, Zayn."

The doctors start yelling again. "We're losing her!" A man shouts.

My head starts to feel heavy. My legs feel weak and I stumble backwards, my hand slamming against the wall as I grasp for support while Ektor holds my other one.

"No don't touch me," I mumble. "Don't touch me!"

I jerk his hand away and glance at Ava, who's trying hard to stand up. Althea helps her. My eyes become watery and I don't even bother to hold my tears back. Then I hear a long monotonous beep and I gasp in shock. Althea and I exchange glances before I look at the heart monitor. The lines are flat. Her heart is not beating.

"Sir, the ECG's showing no electrical activity," a short brunette woman says to another doctor.

"Bring the defibrillator then!" he commands. "Laura, start with the CPR." A young nurse takes his place as he hurries towards a machine that two doctor are bringing in.

Amidst their panic, I go towards Ava and Althea. "S-see Ava?" I stutter. "Th-they're going to bring you back to life. They're going to save you. Everything will be fine."

A sad smile comes across her pale face. Her faded cheeks are wet with tears although she has stopped crying. "You know that's not true."

"No," I shake my head and inch closer to her. She steps away. "No! This can't end like this for you! You have your life ahead of you. You're so young--"