Aiden point of view:
I looked down at Alex, near my breaking point. I was toeing a line I could never stay away from, and I was getting bolder. And it didn't help that she just gave me the go ahead.
With the strain of holding everything I wanted to say and do to her inside, my hand trembled against her cheek. Her hands slid down my chest, down near the waistband of my pants, her eyes never leaving mine.
I opened my mouth, deciding what to say."It probably would be a good idea if Leon or someone else was watching you during the night."
"Probably."
My lips tipped into a lopsided smile as my hand drifted down her cheek, to her neck, and under the collar of her sweater. She jumped a little as my hand skimmed over her bare shoulder."People say hindsight is always twenty-twenty."
"When… when does the next babysitter arrive?"
"Not until morning."
Her eyes widened slightly."Oh," was all she managed.
My hand skimmed gently over the tags on her arm, and I closed my eyes as I shuddered, trying not to think about how close she was. How close her lips are.
There was a line I wouldn't dare cross. It would get her killed… but no one except me and her would know. She wouldn't tell someone. That would get her killed.
Oh to hell with it, I thought.
I bent my head down and lightly brushed my lips across hers. I pulled away quickly. Only one kiss. That was it.
I heard Linard's voice long before I stepped out of Alex's bathroom. I dried my hands and unlocked the bathroom door, remembering waking up in Alex's arms all over again. If only that could happen every day. I sighed at the absurdity of it.
Knowing I would see Alex's face one more time before I switched shifts with Linard, I opened the bathroom door and walked through. "Hey, I was expecting Leon-"
I stopped.
It took me only a second to take in Alex hugging her stomach, blood running down her hands and mouth, and Linard, standing over her, bloody knife in hand. I slammed into Linard, letting loose a roar of fury and pain, nearly inhuman. I wrapped my arm around Linard's throat, slamming him against the wall.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Alex hit the wall on her back and slide to the floor, blood dripping from her fingers as she tried to staunch the flow.
My arm tightened around Linard's neck, and he let out a yelp before I broke his neck.
Linard is dead.
"Help!" I screamed."Someone help!"Nothing was in my head besides a roaring panic as I dropped down beside Alex, shocked. She couldn't die. Not now, not ever. Please don't let her die, I prayed to any god that would listen.
I knocked her trembling hands out of the way and pressed my own hands down on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. I looked down at her, my eyes wide with horror. Two words bounced around in my head. Not her. Not her. Not her.
I had to keep her awake."Alex! Alex, talk to me. Talk to me, dammit!"
She blinked at me, as if she couldn't see me completely. She opened her mouth to speak, but a hoarse, wet cough racked her body, blood and spittle running down her chin.
"No! No. No."I looked over my shoulder at the guards, gathered by the noise."Get help! Now! Go!"
I looked back down at her as her hands spasmed at her sides. Tears gathered in my eyes, blurring my vision. I looked back down at her stomach, pushing down harder. I was frantic and terrified, I couldn't lose her. I lost my parents and barely got over losing them. Nothing could pull me back over the edge if Alex died. Nothing. Because… because I love her.
She opened her mouth again, but no words came out. But I didn't miss the look of love in her eyes as she looked at me again. Or maybe I was already going crazy.
"It's okay. Everything is going to be okay."I forced a smile, mostly talking to myself."Just hold on. We're getting help. Just hold on for me. Please, agapi mou. I promise nothing-"I froze. My whole world froze as she suddenly lay limp in my arms, eyes glazed. There was a flash of light behind me and a popping sound, but the only thing I could look at, over my growing despair, was Alex's limp form.
No. No. No, no, no, no, no, NO!
Alex was dead.