Page 138 of Delirium
All those times I ran, all those times I tried telling myself that he wasn’t the right person for me, I wished I could take it all back. I wished I wasn’t as fucked up as I was when we first met. I wished we had more time—more time to live together, to create a family. It was all now slipping through my fingers, slowly becoming a faraway dream I would never get to see.
But I wanted to see him. He needed to know how much I loved him, how strong he was, how much he changed my life for the better.
My tongue darted out, licking my lips, but I could feel it, the pull, the inevitable darkness surrounding me. My vision was getting blurry, and just as I thought I wouldn’t be able to wait, to keep holding on, the doors burst open. There he was, my avenging angel, the man I would do it all for all over again.
“Sunshine,” he breathed out, stepping inside the room, coming closer to the light. His eyes were filled with worry, with pain, anger, as he took in my body, the blood dripping down on the floor. “No.” He rushed to me, untying my hand. “No, no, no,” he chanted, working on the ties, his entire body trembling.
“S-Storm,” I rasped, trying to follow his movements, but my head was too heavy, my limbs plastered to the table.
“No, Sunshine. No.” He rushed to the other side, untying my other leg and my hand, scooping me up in his arms. As I looked up, I could see the tears running down his cheeks. “Stay with me,” he murmured, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Just stay with me. Help is on the way.”
“Storm, she got them. S-She has our kids,” I whispered.
“I know, I know.” He dragged his hand over my hair, moving the loose strands away from my face. “Fuck, no!” he barked as my eyes started closing. “Stay with me, Sunshine. Just stay with me. Keep those eyes open. Please,” he wailed. “Please stay with me.”
“I l-love you, Stormy.” I chuckled brokenly. “I will always love you.”
“No!” he thundered. “Ophelia, don’t you dare. You’re not dying on me. You’re not fucking dying!” he yelled, as if he could will Death to stay away from me. But he couldn’t. Neither one of us could. “You’re not leaving me,” he whispered on a broken sob, his voice wavering, his tears falling down on my face.
“Find our kids, Stormy.” I coughed, feeling colder by the second. “Find them.”
“I will. I’ll find them, but you’ll see them. You’ll meet them as well, Sunshine. Please, don’t leave me,” he wailed. “Don’t fucking leave me!”
“Remember me, Storm. Tell them about me,” I spoke, hoping he would truly listen to me. “Tell them I wasn’t the monster they made me out to be. Tell them there was good in me.” I coughed. “I wasn’t just darkness.”
“You’re not darkness, Ophelia,” he broke. “You’re my sunshine. You’re my everything.” His voice trembled and his hands on my cheeks shook. “I can’t live without you. Please. I love you. I love you so much, Sunshine.”
“T-Tell them. Please.”
“I’ll tell them. I’ll tell them you were the best goddamn person I have ever met. And you’ll tell them yourself. You’ll tell them.”
“I didn’t get to hold them, Storm,” I murmured, feeling the one wayward tear rolling down my cheek. “I never got to hold them.”
“You will,” he argued. “You’ll hold them. Trust me. You’ll teach them everything.”
But I wouldn’t. We both knew this was it. This was the end for me. This was the end for us.
“I’m sorry for the pain I caused, Storm. I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t say that. Don’t apologize,” he sobbed with me. “It wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault.”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore.” I smiled, looking up at him. “It’s okay now, Storm.” I lifted my hand and pressed it against his cheek. “I’m going to be okay. And I’ll meet you again.” I smiled softly. “I’ll meet you in another life, Stormy. Don’t forget about me.”
“No, Ophelia, hold on.” He shook me, lifting me up in his arms. “You need to hold on, baby.” He crossed the room with me in his arms and started walking down the dark hallway. “Help!” he yelled out. “Atlas!”
But it was too late. We were too late.
Our happily ever after would never come. Our dreams would never be a reality, but at least I had him for a small period of time. At least I knew what love was, what happiness felt like.
“I’ll love you forever, Storm,” I whispered, pressing my cheek against his chest, closing my eyes. “Always and forever.”
“No! Open your eyes, baby. Open your fucking eyes.”
“I’m tired,” I murmured. “Find them. Find Malia and Malakai.” I blurted out the names we had been discussing. The names I liked the most. “Find them, Storm.”
“What the fuck?” Atlas belted out. I could hear the footsteps, the sound of the sirens, but I couldn’t stay anymore. I told him... I told him what I needed to say.
“Ophelia!” Storm roared. It was the last thing I heard before everything turned black, forever separating me from him.
