The first sight was blood, bright and red, pulsing like a desperate heart. It was a bold, garish color. It hurt to look.
Her eyes drifted toward the ragged edges of the wound. Torn flesh and oozing veins ringed the jagged hole. The shrapnel was no doubt buried deep into his body, slicing through skin and flesh and bone.
“Help me,” he croaked, the corners of his mouth speckled with blood.
She turned away. Did she have to do anything? Did she have to prolong the suffering of them both? No. She could simply walk away. And yet…
“You can’t leave me like this,” he gasped.
She did not answer. Her gaze shifted from his shuttering eyes to his rapidly heaving chest. Blood continued to pour out of him at a frightening pace. To think that all of that had been sealed safely inside of his body just moments ago.
She shuddered. Witnessing death did strange things to her. She was about to see another person die right before her eyes.
“You’re a monster.”
The boy’s eyes closed finally, his chest suddenly stilling and the black-red blood seeping instead of running in thick pulses. His last words faded from his stained lips. He was gone.
The room was now silent save for the girl’s anguished gasps. Her knees weakened, giving out until she had ungracefully fallen to the floor in a heap. Her palms and knees slapped the floor loudly. Pain shot up her limbs, but the deep pain in the center of her chest overruled all.
He had been brutally injured in an accident. She could’ve saved him, but she had chosen to let him die. She had chosen for him. He had obviously wanted to live, but she was the one who opened the door and welcomed Death inside.
Now, looking back at the cooling body, she felt sick to her stomach. This was the first boy she had ever fallen in love with. This was the boy who had dried her tears and made her laugh uncontrollably. This was the boy who devoted his life to her.
And her gratitude for his devotion…well, her gratitude came in the form of ultimate betrayal.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out between loud sobs. “I’m sorry I did this.”
However, her desperate apologies fell on deaf, or rather, dead, ears.