“Where does it hurt?” The voice was faded and her vision spotty. It hurt all over. She couldn’t pinpoint the main source. She tried speaking, the words coming out as coughs instead. She thought she heard someone tell her it was going to be okay but she couldn’t be sure. It was so cold here and so dark. Where was she again?
God, her head hurt.
“Tandy, can you hear me?” Tyrone. She nodded her head for that was all she could manage. She saw his smile, brighter than the lights appearing from her hands. “It’s going to be okay.” So, it was him. He reached for her hand before thinking better of it and sighing. He looked so tired. Almost as tired as she felt. “I know you can’t respond but I thought I lost you back there.” He rubs his hands down his face, the same way he did when she teased him.
She doesn’t remember what happened and it scares her. Why did he think he was going to lose her? Why does everything hurt so bad?
He leans in closer to her face, his breath fanning her cheeks and suddenly she’s so warm. He smells of pine and summer and it makes her heart beat a little faster with each breath. “I remember when I first met you. It feels like a different life almost.” He smiles at something far away before continuing. “Your hair was longer then and brighter too. I thought I was so lucky that a girl as pretty as you was even talking to me. Little did I know you were stealing from me.” He laughs and god, if that’s not the best sound she’s ever heard. “I didn’t mind though, not really. I didn’t know you but I felt like I had the minute I looked into your eyes. I felt your pain and saw your past and I knew it was somehow mirroring my own.” Ty runs his hand down the side of Tandy’s face and just sighs, a peaceful, longing type of sigh and it breaks her heart. “I think I loved you before I knew you.”
She wants to say something. Literally anything. Her voice constricts and she coughs again. His expression converts into one of worry as he lifts her head gently off the pillow to allow her breathing to even out. He’s so kind, always has been.
The bright white light is still emanating from her palms and it’s so blinding that she has to close her eyes for a while. She wondered why it was glowing so white. It was never that bright. Her head hurt.
She sees Ty when she closes her eyes. He’s younger than he is now and so is she. They're kids again, figuring out their powers in an old church under the bright lights of the stars. He’s as radiant as he’s always been and she’s so in love she’s almost sure her heart is going to burst from her chest. He’s sitting near her now, on an old mattress that rests on the floor. Garbage is all around them and the church is disgusting but it’s home and it’s the only place besides him she feels safe. He leans in, his eyes darting from her eyes, asking her a question in silence, she nods. Their lips meet and her light swallows the darkness around him and brings him home.
“We’re still here.” He breathes once they retract. She looks at each of their hands, hers a bright light and his a shadow of darkness.
“We’re still here.” She smiles and kisses him like that’s all she knows how to do in the world.
“I’m dying aren’t I?” She finally speaks, her voice hoarse and quiet. He squeezes his eyes shut for a fraction of a second but it’s too late, she sees his pain. He doesn’t answer, only nods his head as tears gather in his eyes. It breaks her heart more than he’ll ever know. “For some reason—“ She stops to cough, her body shaking slightly. She’s cold again. “—I thought that around you I was invincible. That I couldn’t get hurt around you.” The bullet in your chest says otherwise. “Maybe because I always felt safe near you.” He’s crying now. She can hear his heartbeat and for once it’s not matching hers. His is alive, beating wildly in his chest as hers slows down to rest.
“Tandy, please.” He cries and cries and she’s almost glad she won’t have to see the pain in his eyes for much longer.
“Hold me.” She pleads even though she knows the dangers. “Just one last time.” He does. He scoops her up in his arms and she’s all around him, breathing him in like her life depends on it. Hell, maybe it does. She wishes it did. “I’m glad I got to spend my life with you Tyrone Johnson, even for just a little while. Every moment with you was a good one.” They both know it’s coming now. Her heart is slowing even more, her breathing shallow, and her chest so tight she’s not sure how she’s breathing at all.
“I love you.” And it’s the last thing she hears before she closes her eyes. She figures it’s a beautiful song to fall asleep to.