A/N1: I'm pretty sure I've checked all the fanfics with the "Aftershock" tag, so I think that mine is different from all the others, but if there are any parallels with other fics, it is purely coincidental, and I apologize to the writer.
Disclaimer: Claire Kincaid and all other characters belong to Dick Wolf & Co. I do not own or am affiliated with any of them. If I did, Claire Kincaid would still be alive and come back for guest appearances.
One decision can change everything.
Suddenly, a car hit us, and I finally felt the pain of death.
Do all people feel this, or is it just me?
At first, you fight like hell to stay alive. You fight, despite the most excruciating pain in the entire world. Your heart starts to beat like crazy, and then you find that's incredibility hard to breathe. Yet, you still try. One part of your brain thinks of everything that you have to live for. It thinks of what you have to contribute to the world. While the other stronger and more dominating side thinks of everything bad that's happened to you and the world. I thought of Jack, and all the fun times that we've had together. Every time that he's made me smile. I thought of Adam Schiff and Ben Stone, who have guided me through this job, and helped shape the way I am today. I thought of Lennie, who was one of a kind, and was like a light in a room full of darkness. I thought of that feeling when I graduated from Harvard Law, and all the hope that I had. I thought of my family and friends, and all the happy and joyous times that we've had together. But I also thought of every fight that I've had, every time that I've wanted to snap at a person, every single horrible case that I've seen. Every time we couldn't get justice for a victim. How I just witnessed the murder of a man that I helped execute.
Your head has this constant back and forth, until that pain is worse than the pain of your organs shutting down.
All this takes minutes, but seem like a lifetime.
Then, you accept your fate. You accept the fact that you will die, and you feel at peace with it. That's when the pain stops. That's when your brain no longer feels like exploding. That's when all the bad memories are gone. Your brain starts playing your favorite song, and flashes back to some of your happiest memories. You smell your favorite scents, and taste your favorite food. If you open your eyes, you'll see some of the most beautiful sceneries in the world and everyone that you love. You feel a sense of euphoria, like nothing could go wrong.
Those are the very last things that you feel, smell, taste, hear and see. Then, you sense nothing, and everything fads away.
That's when you are finally at peace and no longer suffering under the tyranny called life.
A/N2: I've never died, so I don't know what it feels like. You can view it as if she's speaking from heaven or it was said a millisecond before she die.
I don't even know where she's speaking from.
Please review, no matter what you thought about the story.
Thanks for reading!