Page 112 of BounBound By Scars

“No, no, no—don’t—don’t do that. Don’t make any sound.”

His hands were trembling. Kabir Gill. Trembling.

I tried to move, to touch him, tell him I was okay, but my limbs felt like they belonged to someone else. My body was shutting down one system at a time, but my brain… it was watching him unravel.

He was sobbing. Silently at first, then audibly.

“Stay with me,” he whispered, over and over again. “Please. Please.Please.”

He pressed the jacket tighter. “Titan, this is Cipher. Falcon’s down. I repeat—Falcon is down and bleeding. I need extraction. Now.”

Static answered him.

“Shadow, do you copy?” His voice turned ragged. “Delara, I need you to answer. Lia’s been shot. Please—she’s been shot.”

He ended on a sob. His hand slipped over my cheek, thumb smearing something wet across my temple. “It’s okay, baby. Just keep your eyes open. Just—just breathe, okay? You can do that. You always fucking do that.”

I wanted to tell him I was trying. I really was. But my mouth wouldn’t form words. The pain should’ve been worse. But it wasn’t.

Weird.

His face hovered above mine, eyes frantic, blood on his shirt now. My blood.

“Come on,” he begged. “Don’t leave me like this. You’re not allowed to leave me.”

A sob broke through him, raw and terrifying. I’d never seen him like this.

His hand found mine, wrapped it in his, tight, desperate. “You can’t leave me,Heer. You hear me?You can’t fucking leave me.”

His voice was almost angry now.

Wait.

That word.

That name.

Heer.

I loved it when he called me that.

I wanted to tell him. I’d never told him.

But then, something shifted in me.

The pain was… gone?

The pressure on my chest faded into a distant throb. My body was weightless now. Light.

The world blurred at the edges, but I wasn’t scared anymore.

I looked up at him—Kabir, crying, holding me like I was made of glass. Shaking like he could stop death itself with his bare hands.

He saw the shift in me, I believed.

His chant was becoming distant. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

He was sobbing again. I could see it, but I couldn’t hear it anymore.

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