He Said I Couldn’t Leave. Then I Died Chapter 05

Graham was the first to rush over and lift me up.

His face loomed over me through my blurry vision, twisted with shock and fear.

He patted my cheeks, his voice shaking.

“Lily! Lily!”

“Don’t scare me. Open your eyes and look at me!”

Evan rushed over and grabbed my ice-cold hand.

“Lily, hang on!”

“I’m here. Your brother’s right here! Do you hear me? Stay with me!”

He turned and roared at Maya.

“Call 911! Get an ambulance! Now!”

Maya’s face drained of color. Her hands shook so badly she nearly dropped her phone.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she muttered over and over, “How could this happen?”

Only Tessa remained where she was.

She frowned impatiently.

“Don’t fall for it. According to the theory, she should be cured by now. This is just an extinction response. Once she gets it out of her system, she’ll be fine. She’s obviously faking it for sympathy.”

Smack.

Maya slapped her so hard she staggered back two steps.

With red eyes and a hoarse voice, Maya shouted, “Shut your mouth!”

“If anything happens to Lily, Tessa, you’ll answer to me!”

Tessa clutched her cheek, stunned.

“You hit me? I was trying to help her! How can you be so ungrateful?”

Graham lifted me from the floor and held me tightly against him.

Blood quickly soaked through his shirt, warm liquid running down his arms. He didn’t seem to notice.

He pressed his chin to my forehead and kept whispering the same words.

“Hang on, Lily. Please.”

“Just hang on. The medics are coming. You’re going to be okay.”

He was trembling all over.

But my body no longer obeyed me.

Violent spasms spread from my chest into my arms and legs.

I curled in his embrace, coughing up blood again and again.

My vision filled with red. The ringing in my ears faded into the distance.

Even Graham’s frantic calls became indistinct.

My heartbeat slowed.

Each beat seemed to take everything I had left.

Then I felt myself float free of my body.

My spirit hovered above the room, looking down on it all.

Graham still held me, his chin against my forehead, begging me to hang on.

But he could no longer feel me respond.

He lowered his head and, with a trembling finger, checked beneath my nose for breath.

His face turned ashen.

“No. Lily, this can’t be real.”

He buried his face against my shoulder. His whole body shook violently.

Evan collapsed to his knees beside us, as if all the strength had been pulled out of him.

He gripped my limp hand, tears falling in heavy drops.

Maya covered her mouth and wept.

She took a step toward me, then drew back.

She didn’t even have the courage to touch me.

I watched them, each drowning in grief that had come too late.

But none of it had anything to do with me anymore.