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Frost’s eyes eased open halfway, molten ice inches from my own eyes. “I don’t want to die like this. There’s so much I never said.”
I could feel his heartbeat pressed against my chest already falling weak. He scarcely had a minute left. I swallowed hard to hold back impending grief, whispering, “Tell me, then.”
He sighed, a mere rasp, but the smallest bit of a smile made its way into the set of his mouth. “You’re beautiful. And strong. And brilliant. You’re my Lenore. It’s for the loss of you alone that I fear death.” I shivered again and the tears began to fall uninhibited over my cheeks. “I love you,” he gasped.
I stared into his eyes in silent shock for a moment, then let my eyes slide shut as he pressed his lips to mine. Instantly, it was like I couldn’t feel the pain coursing through my veins at all, as if I was floating in a warm pool of chocolate, as if I would melt straight through the floor. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before in my entire life. I had never felt more whole, more safe, more comfortable, than I did right then in his arms.
If this was what love felt like, I was indescribably sorry I had ever tried to wall myself off, tried to push people away. I had even kept Frost at arm’s length when I could have had this. It was almost ridiculous that finally after all these years, all the pain and heartbreak and coldness, I had opened myself up enough to realize what love was…when I would be dead within five minutes.
We pulled apart, slowly, gently, only far enough that we could breathe again. I opened my eyes and met Frost’s gaze, then whispered weakly, “I’m sorry I shut you out.”
“Me too, but it’s not your fault,” he replied, his voice even weaker than mine. The blood-loss was taking its toll on both of us.
My vision began to darken and I shivered softly, feeling the end closing in. It was over. I didn’t want to die like this. I didn’t want to die knowing everything that I’d lost. I wasn’t ready to let him go. I breathed one last sigh and whispered with my last breath, “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’”
Frost’s eyelids flickered and he sighed softly, one last time.
The blackness won and my own eyes closed. We fell into oblivion together, just barely holding on with all either of us had. Each other.
“Quoth the Raven: ‘Nevermore.’Sleep well, Poe,” Edgar whispered mournfully.
----
My eyes slid open, then snapped closed again. Bright LED lights seared into my eyes, burning holes in the retinas. For a brief second, I wondered why the lights were so bright. Then, I realized that I knew those lights; I was in the hospital again.
Within a moment, everything from New Year’s Eve came crashing back with sudden, perfect clarity. Justin. Nina.Frost.
This time, I snapped my eyes open and kept them that way, eyes darting to search for Frost. Liz’s moon-white face and black hair came into focus and she took my hand gently. “Hey,” she whispered.
“Liz.” My voice was like a weak croak. It felt like knives inside my throat.
Liz smiled weakly. “Justin’s going to live. It’ll be a long time before he gets back to the force, but he’s extremely lucky.”
Frost’s gentle voice echoed inside my head.You are my Lenore. I love you. “What about Frost?” I asked, letting my eyes fall shut again to contain tears. I did not yet believeIwas alive. There was no possibility that he had made it.
Liz hesitated, her voice weary. “Frost…Frost’s in critical condition. He lost a lot of blood and that shoulder wound of his was really bad…both you and he were really bad. I’m honestly shocked that you’re alive.”
I did not hear the rest of what she said. I could not bear to listen. Frost had to be okay. He justhadto. He was Frost. He was all I had…the only thing keeping me sane. Just as Nina had said, it didn’t matter if one of us lived. She only needed to kill one of us to accomplish her task, to get her revenge, to cause aRaven.
Slowly, I opened my eyes and asked her, “Can I see him? Can I get up?”
Liz hesitated, but at last nodded gently and took my hand to help me.
The hallway was deserted as we limped down it together. The corridor was quiet, the light bright and pale, like Heaven. My feet were bare and the floor was like ice on my soles. Liz’s heels cracked against the tile with each step we took together. Frost’s room was not far from mine and we reached it without too much effort, which was lucky. I was very weak and the muscles in my torso felt like they were all shredded. Vaguely, I wondered how long I had been unconscious that I was healed enough to walk.
Liz held the door to Frost’s room for me and, my legs shaking from lack of use, I went ahead to enter. He was lying in bed, his hair soft and messy, without the usual gelled spikes, but the light still caught it and lit him up like he was wearing a halo. There was an angry red scar at his temple from when his head had gotten smashed into the mirror, the stitches already removed. His arm was in a sling to ease the tension in his torn-up shoulder, but he was still alive.
I gripped the bar at the side of the hospital bed, using it to help me stand beside him. I had watched him sleep before and once I had realized that he looked so much older and tenser while asleep. Now, he just looked incalculably tired and sad. Cautiously, I freed one hand and reached out, stroking his cheek.
His eyelids opened slowly and his icy blue eyes met mine, smoldering in the most perfect shade of blue I had ever seen in my life. A small, sad smile stretched slowly across his face. “Lenore,” he whispered, his voice as weak as mine.
The very same smile slid into my own countenance and I leaned into him, letting him wrap his good arm around me. I buried my face in his neck and whispered to him, “We made it.” Tears fell silently from my eyes and seeped into his hospital gown. “We made it, Frost.”
“I’m going to thank God you’re alive every day, Lenore,” he whispered. “I’m not even sure I believe in God anymore, but I’m going to thank Him just in case.”
I looked over his shoulder, through the window and into the hall, and saw a dark figure that had not been there a moment before. My smile widened just slightly.
Edgar smiled back. He looked happy, proud, even congratulatory. And loving, like my dad would have been if he was here. After a moment, Edgar turned away and disappeared into nothingness.
