Rose let out a weary sigh as her arms dropped from their defensive position to her sides. The battle was over... for now. She turned with a heavy heart to John's prostrate form lying sprawled on the ground where he'd been thrown. Her face twisted in sorrow as she treaded over to her friend, knowing that he most likely had passed on while she continued to strife. John lay there on his back, head facing the sky with his lanky arms sprawled at his sides. His glasses were missing from his face, though she quickly located them a couple feet away. She walked over to him pausing to bend down and take the frames from the ground; the rectangular lenses were cracked and stained. She cradled them in her hands as she looked back up at John as she slowly walked forward, her eyes taking in the large amount of blood that had drained from his body which pooled around him on the cold ground.

'Yes… he is already-'

Her somber conclusion was halted when she saw that his gashed chest moved slightly with shallow breaths.

"John!"

She rushed over to his side, feeling a spark of relief rise in her chest. Her knees splashed in his blood and she knelt next to his subtly moving torso. Hearing her, John's blue eyes cracked opened slightly and weakly peered in Rose's direction.

"…Ro-…s…e?"

The breath of her name was broken and gargled, the tone a questioning one that wondered if her existence was real or if it was an illusion from his pain-filled haze. Rose grimly looked at the state of his injuries as she felt the warm liquid seep into her skirt. The little hope she possessed from him being conscious faded as she saw the extent of the damage that was inflicted on his slim frame. He was dying… bleeding out and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Ro-…"

John's second call cracked and died within his throat, with only the first syllable managing to make its way to her ears. Rose met his searching eyes, as she smiled sadly, her lip quivering.

"I'm here John… I'm here."

Her voice wobbled in pitch as she struggled against breaking into sobs. His head twitched in the crimson puddle, as he struggled to turn and look at his friend. He gritted his teeth and groaned in pain as the attempt to move proved to be futile.

"Ro-..sss"

John croaked out her name again, his blue irises straining to catch sight of her. She bit her lip, and leaned forward into his fading sightline as she brought up her arm to stroke his flippy hair.

"Shhh… I'm here John."

Her vision grew a bit fuzzy and she rapidly blinked away tears that threatened to fall as she continued to stroke his hair, her fingers becoming stained pink with his blood that had dried in his hair.

"I'm here… you- you don't have to talk. Just- … stay still."

Silently, he complied, his searching eyes finally finding her violet orbs. He stared into them, his own eyes holding a storm of emotions, focused intensely on Rose… as if her gaze alone kept him from sinking into the darkness. Her vision blurred again and she furiously blinked away tears once more; only to see John's bloodied lips twitch into a weak smile when her vision cleared... a pitifully weak smile that was a shadow of a bigger smile that he sported on his face so often. It was such a feeble motion… that not even his buck teeth, which loudly declared their presence during his smiles, managed to peek out. Rose's eyes filled with tears again, this time spilling outward and down her strained face. A small sob managed to escape from her lips as she spoke.

"I'm sorry John… I'm sorry… I'm here… it will be over soon."

Her hand continued to brush through his dark hair as she cried silently. "All I can do is be here for him in his final moments… to make his passing… easier, so he knows that he's not alone."

Rose wanted to comfort and relax her friend, despite him being in excruciating pain that would soon fade to numbness when his nervous system would shut down. Her mind spun, triggering a memory of something lost long ago… a comforting motion from her mother that used to quell her sobs as a tiny child. Subconsciously, her body recalled it… though she should have been too young to even remember.

Her hand ran through his hair once more, before softly gliding down the side of his face along his hairline, tracing his jaw, and up the opposite side of his face. She drew a finger back up along his hairline to the center of his forehead and down the bridge of his nose. She followed the contours of it, passing over the light freckles that decorated the appendage; traveling downwards from the freckled tip, to the dip of his Cupid's Bow, and to his bloodied upper lip. Fresh blood coated her fingertip like macabre paint as she traced his unmoving lips. Rose felt only a ghost of shallow breaths against her palm as she passed over his relaxed mouth. Her gaze traveled up from his lips, back up to his bright eyes, that grew dimmer and dimmer in each second that passed. But she saw peace within those dulling eyes; he wasn't suffering as much anymore. He wasn't burdened with the thought of dying completely alone. She suspected that his body had also grown numb to any feeling, yet she continued to caress his face. Lifting her crimson coated finger from his lips, she tucked the digit against her palm and extended her thumb, gently brushing it along each of his cheekbones. Moving up along the edge of his eye socket, she moved to trace his eyebrows, stroking them softly, first one… then the other before moving her gaze once again to his clear eyes. The spark in them was fading away, turning the brilliant color to a glassy hue.

"It's time to go to sleep John…" she spoke softly to him as she traced underneath his left eye, in the crease of his dark circle, before moving gently to his upper lid, which closed with a gentle brush of her fingertips. Taking the back of her pointer finger, she brushed it against his eyelashes lightly before moving to the other eye, which stared lifelessly at her. He was gone.

Her jaw clenched and she gently closed his other eye, tracing that lid as well, then brushing those lashes, before moving her hand to sweep his cheeks once more, which had grown cold now that that the life that coursed in them was gone. Stilling her hand, she cupped his icy cheek, and bent down to rest her forehead against his. Tears ran from her eyes and down into her hairline, dripping onto John's still "sleeping" face. Her hand that gripped his broken glasses clenched in her lap as she choked out in a whisper.

"Good-night, John."