In the end it was pointless to restrain him.
Men and women alike were pushed out of his path. Violence and fury froze human hearts as a swell of stillness grew around the fallen body. The crowds parted, hands tearing away the last obstacle between himself and Ivan.
Fear and revulsion twisted his stomach, the taste of vomit washing through his mouth as his headlong sprint slowed to a trot, to nothingness.
"No…"
It didn't take a doctor to realise the wounds that warped his beloved body were fatal, yet pale lips still curved when their eyes met.
"Privet... Arthur… I just… for our anniversary."
A little way away splattered in crimson droplets laid a bouquet of white roses.
"Shh, don't speak; you're going to be ok…"
To his knees he sunk, grasping cheeks that often blushed with careless intimate touches or the rare bursts of emotional honesty that came over the Brit.
"You've lived through worse that this! You're Russia! You can even take out your own heart!"
Emerald eyes swelled with tears, his body trembling like a leaf. In the distance the sound of sirens echoed through what might as well have been the desolate streets of his capital city.
"Arthur… will you do something for me?"
"Oh God anything, name it, whatever you want."
Desperately hands soaked in blood tried to hold the Russian together, barely able to speak through the painful lump in his throat, barely able to see through the watery haze that shielded his eyes.
"Come closer… let me hear you say it. Just this once?"
Hot fluid spilled forth. Arthur knew what Ivan had asked. No matter how long they'd been together, married even, he had never uttered it. It was an unwritten rule in their relationship never to lie. So even if the Englishman had never said it the Russian heard it through every action, each touch, every meaningful softening of emerald eyes when he caught Arthur looking at him.
Lowering down the faintest touch of lips was offered, the taste of blood filtering into his senses. A thick swallow and he pressed lips to Ivan's ear.
"I love you Ivan, I love you so much."
Violet eyes rose to the grey London skies, the very faintest of smiles crossing feature. Ivan had known it all along.
Seconds trickled past, the slight motion of the torn chest falling to naught.
And then the screaming began.
Broken, half mad, causing the gathered crowd to shiver and step back away from the scene.
"NO! YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE ME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE HAS!"
Eventually the paramedics had been able to pry him away, it had taken some time but they had been gentle, comforting. It wasn't unknown for an unfortunate to be mangled by the wheels of one of London's famous double deckers. Nor was it unknown for a partner on witnessing the death of their loved one to react badly.
What would stay with the ambulance crew that attended that particular scene and haunt them for the remainder of their lives were the glassy, dead eyes of man who had been left behind and the only words he muttered before falling into total silence.
"I should have told him I loved him before…"