Page 104 of Leave Me Behind
“Do not cry for me, love. I wasn’t meant for this world. I am darkness… Thank you for showing me a splinter of the light.” His voice is a mere whisper.
“I love you, Jenkins,” I say with tears streaming down my cheeks. His eyes widen at my admittance and a smile unlike I’ve ever known curls his dry lips. He sets his hand on his left breast pocket and clutches it as if his heart aches.
Pop.
The sound reverberates through me.
Jenkins’s head is tilted to the side now, but his broken smile remains, and I let out a cry that will haunt me for the rest of time.
I crumble on Jenkins’s chest and wail.Why did everything have to come down to this?I slide my hand over his and feel something beneath it. Tears drip down as I gently move his hand and open his breast pocket. It’s a silver round music box with bunnies carved into it. My fingers are shaking so violently that it’s hard to get them to twist the key, but once I do, the same lullaby I hummed for him drums out softly. I lift the lid to the music box and a small note is carved into it.
To think of me when I’m away.
Gallows & Jenkins
I shut the music box and place it against my heart. Bradshaw lowers to my side and rests his hand on my shoulder. The touchbrings me back into myself and the pain that spreads through my injuries makes my head bob wearily.
“I know,” Bradshaw whispers when I give him a broken look. “I know.”
He helps me up and we sway on our feet as we stare over all the death.
“Do we even want to go back?” I say absently. Part of me wants to stay here with the dead. And all go together into the night.
Bradshaw squeezes me a little tighter. “I’ll die here with you if it’s what you want, Bun.”
I look at him, our cheeks stained with blood and dried tears. Then I shake my head. “We should head to the extraction point… Otherwise, all this death was for nothing.”
He nods and we support each other as we limp toward the pick-up location.
After five minutes, we hear a chopper cutting through the night.
“We’re almost there,” Bradshaw whispers, kissing my temple.
A shout sounds behind us.
Eren?My eyes widen as I hear the faint shout once more.
Bradshaw heard it too and his face reanimates. We move as fast as we can and backtrack until we see two soldiers, one carrying the other.
“Eren?!” I shout, and my pain subsides as adrenaline rolls through me again. I recognize the man carrying him instantly. “Paul?” I knew he was good.
When we reach them, Bradshaw falls to his knees and desperately hugs his brother. My eyes fall to his legs. One is hardly still hanging on while the other is gone below the knee.
An ache pulses through my chest at the idea that we left him when he was still alive. My eyes meet Paul’s. “Thank you isn’tenough,” I choke out. Bradshaw clings to his brother helplessly and cries.
Paul smiles. “Let’s hurry up before any of you bleed out.” I nod and give him a painful hug. Paul made a tourniquet for Eren’s leg the best he could but he won’t last long like this. None of us will. “We need to get to the extraction before the chopper takes off.” Paul carries Eren as his consciousness dips in and out.
The three of us cry silently as we make it to the evacuation point. Paul keeps his grim expression as he pushes us on. More tears fall as the chopper descends and medical personnel come out to help us get on board. They aren’t from the dark forces. I assume they are Eren’s friends from his other endeavors. Harrison was saying he had Canadian allies just before he was hit.
Does this mean we’re free?
The chambers of my heart fill with grief as we leave Labrador. I shut my eyes and think of Jenkins’s last smile. I think of his bones that will forever rest here.
I press his music box tightly against my heart.
Bradshaw lost a lot of muscle mass while being wrapped up in the hospital. So did I, but it’s much more noticeable on him. He smiles as I step into his room. It’s only a few doors down from mine, so I sneak in here more often than I should.
“Is he still asleep?” I whisper, looking over at Eren’s bed. He’s sitting up and shoots me a glare. I let a laugh slip and he can’t keep his serious ruse up anymore.
