XXX.
"Vital signs are on a critical level, further medication required immediately."
"Out! Get out of here. All of you." Riddick placed Hopes hand gently back on the bed and stood up. "Leave the ship. Now."
"Riddick, please, you can't …"
"I said OUT. OF. HERE." He shoved the women to the hatch and closed it behind them. He couldn't stand their company any longer ... how could they dare live when she was dying?
"Defiant, initiate start routine." He sat down in the cockpit to set a course and the ship quickly gained height. As soon as he had activated the autopilot he went back to sickbay.
"Vital signs are on a critical level, further medication required immediately."
"Defiant, shut up." Riddick was beyond tired. He hadn't left Hope's side the whole way back to Furya and lack of sleep was taking its toll. He stretched out beside her and took her in his arms. He didn't know if she was feeling something but if so he wanted it to be him she was feeling in her last minutes.
"Babe, why don't you fight?" he whispered, his face buried in her hair, his lips brushing slightly across her ear. "I know you could if you wanted to. Don't give up on us." Somewhat like a sob escaped Riddick's throat. "Babe, you are not supposed to die. Don't do that to me."
He glanced at the monitor showing her vital signs, hoping for a turn for the better. But no such luck … they had gotten even worse in the last minutes. "I'm here, babe, stay with me, please."
But he knew it was too late … her scent already faded away, he could feel her life draining out of her body.
He knew exactly the second she died ... his heart and soul went with her, nothing left but a breathing shell. He cradled her in his arms not being afraid anymore to hurt her. "I'm so sorry babe." He tucked a loose strand of her hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear; he couldn't remember how often he had done that. He had loved the feeling of her hair.
He had loved so many things about her. Her boldness, her courage, her stubbornness, how she refused to get frightened by him, the way she met his beast. He had loved to train her, to reveal the warrior hidden inside her. Her smile and her confidence in him. The way she responded to him, how a simple word whispered in her ear could get her all worked up. He had loved their tender, peaceful moments when he had held her in his arms, relishing her embrace and feeling her heart beat against his chest. How she was able to calm him down and how she had made him open up to her. How she had touched his soul … how she had made him feel almost human.
And now the only person that ever mattered to him, the only person he ever had loved, the only person who ever had loved him wholeheartedly was dead. Because of him. He had promised to take care of her, to never let anything happen to her; it was his fault she was dead. He had failed her … could as well have killed her himself.
Never again he would see that sparkle in her eyes, never again she would smile for him. His thumb caressed her full bottom lip. Death hadn't taken any of her beauty away, she was still the most beautiful woman he had seen in his whole life.
He didn't even try to shut out the voices he suddenly heard in his head…
'Riddick, I haven't betrayed you, I promise. I didn't tell them anything.' … Kate … they had come for him and when they didn't find him had instead killed her.
'Keep turning, keep turning … that's right … others're already 'board waitin' for us right now … five steps, c'mon, almost there, Riddick … almost there … we're almost …" … Carolyn … she came back for him, got killed by a hammerhead for her helping him.
'Riddick…' … Hope … his Hope.
NOT. FOR. ME! NOT. BECAUSE. OF. ME! NEVER. AGAIN!
A bittersweet smile graced his face; he had to swallow the lump in his throat to be able to speak.
"I'm right behind you, babe. I'll find you where ever you go and then I'll never leave you again."
He kissed her a last time and his whispered "I love you" still lingered on when the ship exploded in a blinding bright ball of fire in Furya's sun.