Resident Evil: End of Days

Bonds...

"Leon...? ...come on man, answer me...at least show me something you're not dying on me..."

...Chris. I hear you...

Fresh air is flowing through my lungs, at least from what I breathe in. I can feel something over my face, a mask connected to an oxygen tank used in hospitals...

I feel heavy. I can't breathe all that well...I need to wake up...

My eyes flutter open, and Chris has my head in his arms. God I feel cold and heavy. I don't recognize where we are...

...Where have we hidden into?

"Hang on...I'm shitty at first aid, but bear with me..."

What is he...? I find him poking a needle into my neck. penicillin from what it feels like to keep any infection from festering into anything worse. Then he opens my vest and my shirt carefully, exposing my wound. He grimaces.

"Jesus..." He looks at me, then swallows hard. He carefully traces the gaping gash along my skin and shakes his head. He looks back at me. 

I could see he's at a loss. He doesn't know what to here, but he asks me, "Can you use that blue fire magic to make yourself heal?"

I nod slowly; I could try...I close my eyes, trying to draw on the blue flames, but for odd reasons, they don't flare up for me. I'm trying to, but for trying to heal myself, they don't flare up for me. My brows knit as I try to focus, but I can't draw on anything. I'm too weak to.

"Come on Leon...!" Chris pleads with me. "Come on, whatever you do, don't die on me. Please." His voice breaks. Chris? What's happening? I look up at him, and I notice under his vest he's shaking, surging with emotions I've never seen him express before.

"I...I can't..." He looks at me. "I can't...lose you again. I need you to fight to stay alive. Fight to live...for me. I lost Jill and I lost Piers before. I can't imagine how I'd be able to wake every day and keep going if I don't have you with me doing the same thing. We can't let these corporations ruin our lives. We have to take them down, every single one of them. But to do that I need you right by my side. Please?"

I can't help but feel he's implying something. 

"...I can't do this alone," he tells me. "I have the BSAA's help, yes, but I...can't do this without you. Without someone who's been there like I have, who knows what happens when these corporations and these cults let hell loose on Earth. I can't do this without you, Leon...I need you. More than anything I need you."

He looks at me. Something in those brown eyes of his tell me that, in his words, he's saying something else. But...is this really what he wants? Could it be done? How?

I lie back and think for a moment...a long moment. He needs me to be able to defeat the evil in the world, as it's my task as well. I knew he'd be there for me, as I would happily be there for him. 

...Oh fuck it all why do emotions have to be so complicated?

I try to not read between the lines, but for some reason for another I can't ignore his pleas for me. To survive, to fight on his side against the corruption of mankind's evil. I want to give him that want, that need for me to fight.

However, in the back of my mind, when all is said and done...would that be it? Just another soldier who has his back every step of the way? Could it be possibly more, perhaps?

So much doubt clouds my mind. I want to understand him, but do I know what he tells me is how he truly feels? Do I really mean that much to him?
~
As the hours drag on into morning, Chris remains quiet and alert, and all the while I lie nearby, fighting to draw on the soul fire to heal. I try to think of Chris' words in my head, about how much he needs me. It pounds in my heart, reverberating through my veins.