Bellamy
Ten days. Ten days since Praimfaya hit. Ten days since Echo's been on her death bed. She wasn't improving and Abby wasn't hopeful for a full recovery, or even a recovery at all.
I tried to remember the girl I love. The girl with the color in her cheeks and pink lips, with a sparkle in her eye and the rare smile. I tried to remember Echo as that girl, not the pale, lifeless body on the hospital bed.
I talked to her every night, though Abby said that it was wasted breath. When I asked her if it would be wasted breath if it was Kane on this bed, she walked away and never said anything about it again.
She flatlined a few times, that's when Abby put a breathing tube down her throat directly into her lungs. She's not fighting. She's given up. That's what Abby said. Was it cruel to try to keep her alive when she didn't want to be?
It was day twelve, and there was no sign of improvement.
Abby walked in, a somber look on her face. "Bellamy…it's been almost two weeks. The odds of her waking up are slim to none."
"You've already told me that," I said quietly, my eyes not leaving Echo.
"We're wasting oxygen keeping a dead girl alive."
That got my attention. "No. Taking away her oxygen will kill her! She's not dead! She's going to get better!" panic rose in my chest. "Give her a few more days. Just a few more days! Please, Abby!"
She hesitated. "Fine. Two days, the two week mark. Not another day longer."
I turned to Echo once the doctor left. "You hear that, Echo? You need to get ready to wake up. You have two days to prepare."
"Bell?"
"What?" I looked up at Octavia, confused.
She sighed, looking at me then at my untouched soup. "You've barely eaten since Echo was taken. You rescued her, Bell."
"But she's dying anyways. Abby's killing her in two days. She thinks Echo's a lost cause."
Octavia stood up. "No she won't. I'll talk to Roan and Indra. They won't let her do anything to Echo."
"No. Don't."
She sat down slowly, concern in her eyes. "Bell?"
"She's suffering, O. She isn't fighting, she gave up. Maybe…maybe it's time to let her go."
My voice cracked and I couldn't stop the tears this time. Octavia reached across the table, taking my hand in hers. She didn't say anything. There was nothing anybody could say.
It was my last night with her. Tomorrow Abby would kill her. Everyone said that she was already gone, that she was just a shell. But I refused to believe them. Comatose patients can wake up, oxygen deprived patients can still walk away without brain damage. It's possible. Abby admitted it was possible. She just didn't think it was possible with Echo.
This girl, she survived so much. She survived many years of torture and abuse from Nia, she survived years of being used as a blood bank in Mount Weather, she survived Praimfaya and she would survive this. She had to.
"Echo?" I took her cold hand, like I did every night the past two weeks. But this? This was our last night. "If you're in there, if you can hear me…I love you. I've loved you forever it seems. And…I want to be with you forever, but I'm not sure that's possible. You've survived so much, and it's unfair to ask you to survive more. So if you want to be done, if you want me to let you go, I will. I'll let you go, for you. And…and I'll stay strong…for you." I didn't try to fix the crack in my voice or the tears on my face or the hole growing bigger in my heart. "I wanted…I wanted to wait to ask you this…I wanted to wait until after Praimfaya when we were safe down here but now I know I should've asked sooner. I wanted to marry you—to be bonded as your people call it. I wanted to be yours forever and have a family, to raise our children and be happy. I have, I have a ring my mother gave me before she was floated. I've kept it this whole time, she said she was sure I'd find someone I loved more than anything. I never thought I would…until I met you."
I slipped the ring onto her finger, kissing her hand before moving to kiss her forehead. My lips lingered, knowing our time was being cut too short.
Tomorrow, everything would end.
"It's time," Abby announced softly as she and Jackson entered medical. Octavia, Ilian and Roan followed, somber looks on their faces. I watched in silence as the two doctor walked over to us. I kept her hand in mine, not wanting to say goodbye.
It's time.
I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch the ending of her life. The beeping of the monitors stopped, but the sound would forever be burned into my brain, the sound of her heart beating its last beats.
Is it over? I wanted to ask, but I was afraid. Afraid to know when she was gone.
I heard a soft gasp from somewhere in the room.
The hand in mine squeezed, and every cell in my body sparked back to life. It wasn't an ending, it was a new beginning.
Kom folau oso na gyon op. From the ashes we will rise.