Beating hearts

sneak peak

She felt a sharp pain, and though the ringing in her ears muffled the world, she saw everything. She saw the terror in his wide eyes, the pure anguish and horror as blood poured from her body. Her knees buckled, and her vision blurred like a camera losing focus. Tears filled her eyes as she struggled to keep him in sight.

He broke into a run, as if time itself had slowed, stretching every second into a cruel eternity as he raced toward her.

She collapsed onto her back, clutching her chest where the bullet was lodged deep in her flesh, her fingers gripping the wound as if holding in the very essence of life itself.

He slid to the ground beside her, trembling, gathering her in his arms as if cradling a newborn. He clasped her hands, her breath shallow and ragged, his own tears falling onto her face, mingling with hers. She tried to speak, but the words died in her throat, choking on the bitter taste of her own blood.

He stared into her blue eyes as the light slowly faded, leaving nothing but the hollow, distant emptiness of death. Her eyes remained frozen in that thousand-yard stare as she took her final, painful breath.

He rested his forehead on her blood-streaked shoulder, closing her eyes with his right hand while his left held hers tightly. Grief twisted inside him, pooling in his stomach before it erupted into a fiery rage that pulsed through his body.

With a furious cry, he slammed his fist onto the cold, wet pavement, now stained with innocent blood.

"No!" he shouted.

"I can fix this," he whispered, lifting her limp, lifeless body. He carried her away, knowing deep inside that nothing would ever be the same again. The girl he had loved was gone, her body nothing more than an empty vessel.

But even knowing she was dead, he refused to let her stay that way.