It was a note carved into a metal sheet.
It wasn't even that.
It was a scratch on a splinter from a metal sheet.
It was everything.
I love you sweetheart.
That's all it said.
They found it clutched tightly in his palm, crusted blood around the edges. Rather, she found it. She pried it from his hand.
She got the call that his squad was going in, and told him that she'd be right behind him. She had been right behind him. She had been five minutes too late, but she had been right behind him. The building was in flames, and the signs of a thermal detonator were evident. The ceiling had collapsed on him, part of it had.
She had found him. She had collapsed by his side amidst the flames that shot to the sky around her. She had found the note. She had found the scratch on the splinter of metal clutched tightly in his palm, crusted blood around the edges. She had found it.
It was everything.
That's all, so sorry it took so long.