Candles

27 | U N S T E A D Y

THE SHOUTS WERE GETTING CLOSER and I knew we did not have much time left. His head laid firmly on my lap and he groaned in pain. Blood stained his lips and his once blue shirt was now spotted with his own blood. My arms were wrapped around him and I constantly shook my head, not believing what was happening. A bullet to his chest had slowed us down and I had no idea if we were going to make it out alive. Tears wet my cheeks and a headache was starting to form. I knew crying was not going to help us but I could not help it. There was no way I could get him to the hospital—not in this condition.

We were trapped.

"You're going to be okay," I whispered, tightening my arms around him. "This...This is just one little bump in the road. We're going to make it out of this and we're going to sail the world together, remember? Do you remember what you told me that day at the beach?"

Elijah's glassy eyes met mine and the sight of him in so much pain hurt me. He opened his mouth to speak but only coughed up more blood. My eyes widened and I applied pressure to his wound to attempt to make the bleeding stop. He cried out as soon as my hands touched his wounded flesh and he bit his bottom lip. His forehead was covered with sweat and he smelled like blood...so much blood. I had a few wounds myself but nothing like this. A couple bruises meant nothing compared to a bullet buried within the chest. His chest rose and fell at a fast pace and every time he coughed, I winced.

"You..." Elijah met my gaze again and slowly shook his head. "You have to run."

"No," I quickly argued. "I'm not leaving you here alone."

"Run," he said again. "Change...Change your identity. Move away from this Hell. Keep your mother and Jett safe. Don't you ever look back, you hear me? You have to run and hi—"

"No!" I shouted.

"Don't get caught because of me," he pleaded. "I'll only slow you down."

"If they find you, they'll kill you, Elijah!"

"Gwen," he smiled weakly. "I'm already dead."

I cried out, knowing he was right. He was bleeding too much and even if I had managed to take him with me, he would bleed to death. They were getting closer to us and this caused me to panic. I had to warn my family about what was going to happen. I needed to tell them what I had been doing for the past few months and I needed them to trust me so I could keep them safe. Elijah was always right and I hated it. It was never supposed to end this way. No one was supposed to get shot. We were supposed to be fine!

"Go," Elijah begged. "They'll be here any minute and I won't let them take you."

"Please—"

"Why are you still here?" he struggled to look at me and this made me hurt even more. "Go!"

Fresh tears wet my cheeks and I nodded my head, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

I stood up quickly, making sure he was comfortable. He grunted when I laid his head down on the grass and I kissed him hard on the lips, knowing it would be our last. His fingers ran along the engagement ring on my finger and I choked on a sob. He kept his smile but his eyes were looking toward the trees. I kissed him once more on the forehead and turned to run. I ran as fast as I could and never once looked back. I heard yelling but I tried to block it out. I heard gunshots but I kept moving. My heart ached and I no longer cried silently. My knees gave way and I fell, screaming at the world for doing this to me. There was one more gunshot and I placed a hand on my heart, knowing exactly what that meant.