Chapter Twenty-Five

HE DIED.

He died while I pounded on his heart and begged into his ears.

He died as his pulse blazed past survivable.

He died as the monitor switched from chaotic chirps into flat line screaming.

And I lost a piece of myself.

He died to hurt me, to spite me.

He died because of me.

And I lost another piece.

He died because he’d come after me.

Because he’d saved me.

Because he’d loved me.

And I lost another piece.

His islands weren’t enough to bring him back.

Pika wasn’t enough.

Skittles wasn’t enough.

I wasn’t enough.

And I lost another piece.

Grief came swift.

Tears brewed heavy.

Terror was absolute.

And I lost another piece.

The flat line screech of his dead heart broke me.

The slack lips and closed eyes broke me.

The loss of such perfect possibilities broke me.

And I lost a final piece.

I spiralled.

I sobbed.

My grief mutated from pathetic to furious.

Vicious violence bled past my tears.

I crawled on top of him and struck his beautiful face.

I struck again.

He left me?

He abandoned me?

Well, he would arrive at his reckoning bearing my sorrow-inflicted scars.

My sobs overflowed.

I lost all my pieces.

And I snapped.