Page 80 of No Saint

“I know baby, I know.” I grip her clammy hand and squeeze, hard enough for it to cause her an ounce of pain which she reacts to just as I want her to. The small cry of pain cuts deep but it means she’s still with me. “I just need you to stay with me, okay,leonessa,a little while longer.”

She sucks in wheezing breaths, the sound rattling wetly inside her chest.

“Gabriel, I’m…” she pauses, sighing, sagging a little.

“No, Amelia, stay awake!” I squeeze until her knuckles roll inside my fist.

“I’m sorry.”

“No.”

There’s myleonessa.Her pretty blue eyes, somewhat puffy and swollen open enough to feel the weight of her glare, “No?”

“No. I don’t accept it. Stay awake and when you’re better, we can talk.”

“Gabriel.”

“No, Amelia,” I snap, “Stay the fuck awake. Stay awake for Lincoln.”

A tear rolls down her cheek.

“Stay awake for me.”

Her small hand tightens a little around mine and I glance over, finding her eyes, drooping and tired, looking at me.

“I’ve got you.” I tell her, “I will always have you.”

She slips back into unconsciousness moments before I hit the hospital, her breathing becoming worryingly slow and shallow.

“You don’t get to fucking leave me,” I growl to her, gently removing her from the car to place her in my arms, “I only just found you,leonessa,” My mouth drops to her hair, “Please, I only just found you.”

She doesn’t respond, not that I expect her to and rush into the emergency room, “Help me!” I roar, “Someone help me!”

It takes barely any time at all for a gurney to arrive and an army of nurses and doctors, hands grabbing, touching, dragging her limp body, and placing it onto a bed. Tubes and tools block my vision, hands grabbing at her clothing, at her flesh.

“Mr Saint!” Someone yells.

There’s a collective pause before things seem to go into overdrive, people moving more frantically.

An older woman touches my arm.

“What!?” I growl, my body and eyes following my wife.

“I need you to explain what happened.”

“Can’t you see! She drowned!”

“I understand, Mr Saint, but I need more detail, I need to know so we can give her the best treatment.”

So, I explain it, I tell her how I found my wife, how she was bleeding from her head and how she wasn’t breathing when I first discovered her in the pool.

“She can’t swim?”

“I thought she could,” I didn’t feel like the ruler at this point, I felt small, worthless. I felt like nothing was in my control. “She didn’t tell me.”

“Okay, Mr Saint, we will do all we can.”

And then she disappears, along with the team of medical professionals and the body of my wife.

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