WARNING: Death.

"Will you? Will you show me this last act of love?"

Spittle forms in a soft foam at the corners of her jaded mouth.

"I hate that I have to ask this of you," she whispers. "I wish I'd had the courage to help myself when I still could. But I wanted that extra time with you, I needed it. It was the only way to give my life meaning… but now the sand is trickling faster than I can cup it in my hands…"

She leans back into the crisp white pillows.

"I don't want to die in a hospital hooked up to machines and comatose. I don't want to die in a room full of strangers, unable to walk or talk. I don't want to end my life like that. I want to end my life like I started it, full of hope for better and brighter things…"

She tries to smile but her degenerating muscles betray her.

"I want to die in your arms, Christian. I want to take my last breath in your embrace and remember your touch as the last contact I will have on this Earth. I want the feel of your skin to be the last thing I remember, the last thing I cling to. I know this is agony… I know this is unbearably unfair… we had such a short time together when we should have had the rest of our lives."

She pales as another shade of life slips from her body.

"But the time we did have was such a blessing, Christian. It was something that most people only dream about. Soulmates are an unproven faith for the masses but for me, you're it. You're the one person out there that could ever have loved, protected and cherished me as you have. You're the one person out there that could ever have made me laugh… made me live…"

Her withered hand somehow trails across the blanket to cup mine.

It is freezing.

"I'm ready now, baby," she whispers. "I'm ready to go. I believe with all my heart and all my soul… I believe with everything I have that we will see each other again. This isn't goodbye… this is… I'll see you soon, leave the light on. But I can't go without your help. My body is failing me, betraying me. I cannot do it myself or I would. I need your help, Christian. You're the only person I can trust, can turn to… the only person I know that's strong enough to do what needs to be done…"

She smiles gently as burning tears burst from my eyes and trail down my cheeks.

"Don't cry because it's over, baby, smile because it happened…"

The syringe is in my left hand and the decision of my life is in my right.

She gazes up at me from her wasting body and beseeches me with her intelligent eyes.

"I trust you… Christian, I trust you…"

A sob rips from my throat as I carefully climb up on her bed and gently cup her broken body into mine. She's perpetually cold, painfully thin and beyond any and all medical miracles. There's a small tearing sound as the syringe pierces her skin and pumps death into her veins. It clatters to the floor as I card my hand through her hair for the last time, my body heaving with silent, seismic shockwaves of grief.

"Thank you," she breathes softly, "Thank you for your strength… for your love."

My body racks with agony.

"Ana… I can't do this… an eternity, without you…"

With mammoth effort, she rolls over in our bed so that she's facing me and her frail finger finds my mouth. She places it over my lips and gazes deep into my eyes with love burning in her irises.

"It's not an eternity, Christian… I would never leave you for eternity."

She smiles sleepily as the drugs begin to take effect before murmuring her last, final and irrevocable words.

"Our eternity hasn't even begun…"

…..

A/N: I wanted to challenge myself to do a drabble as I usually don't and I was in a melancholy mood!

Inks x