Just Breathe

Just Breathe

Just Breathe

“Gonna feel sore in the morning.”

You slowly stand and pull off your once again ruined leather coat, which is completely covered in the slimy guts of the creature you just exploded to kingdom come.

You carry what remains of the coat in your left hand and wearily plod to the location where you had left her, unconscious, in the care of John Myers.

You want to run to her as fast as you can. Still, you keep this unhurried pace. Myers has bravely stood by the both of you without question. He cares for her, you can tell. By now, she’s probably awake again and you wouldn’t blame her if she chooses him instead of you. What kind of life could a monster like you really give her?

Myers could never love her as you do, but at least he can give her the semblance of a normal life. She deserves only the best and you are going to make sure that she gets just that, even if you aren’t the one who can give her what she needs.

Coming around a bend in the dank corridor, you see her, still wrapped in that blasted altar cloth. She’s sitting on the floor just as you had left her, slumped against the wall of cold stone. Myers is kneeling next to her, his fingers against the side of her throat. He looks up as you arrive.

“She’s got no pulse. She’s not breathing.” You hear the quaver in his voice; see the dismay in his bloodied features. You barely notice him as he rises from the tunnel floor and backs away.

You only have eyes for her lifeless body. Dropping your useless coat to the floor, you fall to your knees and take her face in your left hand. It still feels warm to your touch, but is getting colder by the second. Her chest is not moving. ‘Breathe; just breathe,’ are the only words that run through your mind as you bend over, placing your lips near her left ear.

“Liz?” Your whisper is so low that even you can barely make it out.

“I was so foolish. (Just breathe, please, Liz; just breathe.) I was somewhere else. I was someone else. I…”  Words fail you.

Dropping your hand from that beloved face, you sit back on your heels, and wait.

Somewhere, in the very air around you both, is a dark force. You know exactly what this presence is. You defy it to take her away from you and swear to come after her if it does.

Her head drops to one side. You think that maybe you see her take in one small breath…