She opened her eyes when she felt him draw her up in his arms. He had to lean close to her to hear her words.
"Hold me close," she said, "you know I can't stay long now. All I wanted to say was I love you. Can you hear me?"
He choked back his tears and nodded.
She turned her head into his chest and then looked back up at him. "Can you feel me in your arms?"
He nodded again.
"I can barely feel you. I love you. You saw me," she shuddered and he held her closer, "when no one else did. I hated you. I was afraid of you. But I fell in love with you the second you came through that door." Her eyes closed again. She tried to take a deep breath. "But it's okay now. All my thoughts of you are now safe inside me. All the pain ends here now."
He pulled her as close to himself as he could, burying his face in her hair.
"I'll miss the winter, all the world is so fragile then. I think I'll go to a white forest. You can find me hiding in a hollow tree." She struggled to look at him again. "Come find me?"
He wiped her bloody hair from her face with his bloody hand. "Of course."
"I can taste your tears…" she said absently.
He gathered all his strength and stood. He had to get her to the hospital wing. He knew that if he could get her there fast enough, he might still be able to save her.
As he walked down the corridor with her, he spoke to her, trying to keep her awake. "Don't close your eyes. You won't disappear, even if they're closed. You want your dreams to leave you here, but you still know the truth. You know no one's waiting for you there. You know that if you go now you'll still be alone. Stay. Stay and I'll be with you. Don't be afraid."
She could still hear him calling to her as he faded to black.