So many thoughts rushed through Alexander Hamilton's head the second he felt the bullet slam into him. First he registered his former friend's startled, panicked, guilty face staring at him. Whose scream was that anyway? Alex swore he heard someone yell "WAIT!" Then he realized it was Aaron Burr's voice, trying to call the discharged bullet back. But it was too late now. The damage was already done. Hamilton staggered and fell back on the dew soaked grass of the Weehawken dueling grounds.

The pain didn't register at first, as he was in shock. Alex could only watch the rapidly illuminating sky while his doctor rested him against a moss covered stone and peered at the grave puncture between his ribs. He overheard Burr say to William P. Van Ness, his second, that he needed to check on him, or possibly to amend what he had done.

Alexander was now gasping for breath while his mind raced with his typical inhuman speed. "Was this what Philip felt? I really wish I had stayed in bed. Being considered a coward is far better than dying when I have seven children. Speaking of which, I never said goodbye to my children or…. Or ELIZA! No. I can't die right now. I have so much left to do. I gotta make it through this. If I don't, then Eliza will be alone. I have already failed her so many times…..I cannot let her down. I lied to her too. Oh God, oh God, oh God!" With that, Alex passed out.

Ten minutes later, Alex felt gentle rocking and spray in his face. When he came to his senses, he realized he was in the bottom of a boat speeding across the Hudson. He winced with pain whilst Nathaniel Pendleton, his faithful friend, told him to stay still and calm. He had no doubt in his mind that the majority of NYC knew about him and Burr's duel. Pushing a strand of black hair away from his face, he managed to sputter out his forgiveness for his shooter. Alex fell in and out of consciousness until they finally hit the riverbank.

Meanwhile at the Hamilton residence….

Eliza Hamilton groggily arose from her bed and carefully checked on her sleeping children one by one before starting her daily chores. It was too quiet around the house since her ever-busy husband was at some meeting and her eldest son was recently deceased. Eliza shivered with the memory of those awful weeks and started a kettle of tea. That was far too painful to think about, even a year later. She was grateful for her husband and remaining children though. She yawned and thought of Alex for a while. Eliza often still wondered what was happening in his overactive brain. She poured her tea with a smirk and was about to settle in her living room when she was interrupted by an urgent knock on her door.

Eliza was greeted at the door by a dear friend. He rapidly passed along the message that her husband was hurt and was at his residence awaiting her. How was Alexander hurt at a meeting? He had been having stomach problems for quite a few years. She immediately started to fear the worse. Eliza quickly dressed and left another friend with the children, still safe and warm in their beds, blissfully unaware of their father being shot.

At the friend's residence

Alexander lay on a bed as he watched the doctors cut away his clothes and speculate on what his best options were. He was getting sick of this.

"This is fatal," Alex questioned, "is it not?"

He was rewarded with grim sighs and the somber silence of agreement. Suddenly he heard a door slam in the front of the house. Despite his condition, he brightened a little. Was it…..?

"Alex what is going-" Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton's face went completely ashen as when she saw the state of her husband. Specifically when her eyes landed on the bullet hole on the same steady torso she had wrapped her arms around when she'd been newly married. The same rib cage that shook with laughter when the couple interacted with Eliza's sister Angelica. Even the same place that trembled when he had witnessed his son's life fade out.

Eliza fell on her knees next to her fading husband, who now knew he didn't have much time left and was chatting nervously. She could tell he was scared. Eliza now looked at the doctors for ANY sign of hope that her Alex might pull through. She was met with the same silence her husband had received, confirming the horrible fact that he would only be with her a few hours more. She shattered then like he had after she forgave him just over one year before. Eliza sobbed, mixing her tears with his blood.

Though Alexander Hamilton had very little strength, he managed to persuade a stubborn priest to give him last rites, even though he had dueled. (illegal at the time.) By this time, all of his children, Angelica, some friends, and a shaking Eliza were standing in the room. Unbeknownst to all, the entire city did not only know about the duel, but were solemnly awaiting the fate of the man that was regarded a hero so many years before.

Last few minutes

Alex was pale as a ghost as he said goodbye to his children, including his infant son. He watched them shuffle quietly from the room until only his wife and her ever present sister were left.

"Hey," he whispered in a brief moment of clarity, "it's alright. You will be fine okay?"

Wiping her eyes with her hand, Eliza slowly nodded as another sob caught in her throat. Hearing his wife try to stifle a sob, Alex managed to stop his raving for another second to wrap his arms around her once more and, ensuring she was back in Angelica's embrace, sputtered one last sentence-

"Remember my Eliza, you are a Christian." With that final sentence, his breathing slowed until Eliza and Angelica saw the life leave Alexander Hamilton's eyes.

Angelica and Eliza both fell on the bloodstained floor, Angelica numb with shock that her playful, even flirtatious brother-in-law was gone. She held on to her devastated sister tight. Eliza screamed loud. Louder than when Philip died. She eventually struggled out of her older sister's embrace and climbed on the bed with her husband's body. She lay curled there for a while until the doctors pried her away from Alex's limp form. Eliza's whole body hurt. She was helpless again, but in a different way this time.