Broken Dreams(126)

Nick cradled Henry. He looked lifeless, like a ragdoll. I started throwing up because I was crying so hard. I saw Nick open Henry’s eyelids. Oh, god, I was losing him.

Then I had a moment of clarity. I had to make Kellan true dead for what he did to Henry. I became like a caged wild animal. Claire yelled in my ear, “Elaina! Calm down!”

I was like a pissed off honey badger. I scratched and clawed my way to Henry, and nothing was going to get in my way. Claire couldn’t hold me back any longer. Nick was listening to Henry’s chest.

“Come on, man. Come on!” Sophie had dropped down at his side, sobbing.

I finally got to him. I grabbed his lifeless, icy cold hand. I had a newfound strength, and I shoved Nick away from him. My adrenaline was pumping fast and furious through my veins. “Get away from him!” I laid my head on his chest, trying to listen for a heartbeat. I was too panicked to hear anything except my own heart pounding in my ears. “Henry, Henry, please. Please come back to me!” His beautiful face was such a bloodied mess. His eyes were already bruised and swollen. Blood was trickling out of his nose and mouth.

“Henry! Please! Don’t leave me!” I cried out. I beat on his chest. I laid my head back on it, and I heard his heart thud a couple times. It was slow, but still going. “I can hear his heart beating!” I shouted. I laid my head back on his chest, and it seemed to be beating faster.

Henry began to cough, and blood misted out of his mouth. He moaned. Nick rolled him on his side to help keep his airway clear. Then I heard him trying to say something. “Lai-na...,” he whispered.

“Oh, my god, Henry.” He reached up and stroked my face. In all his pain, he was trying to comfort me. He couldn’t open his eyes all the way, and his breathing wasn’t sounding great, either. “We need to find him some help!” I was panicking. Henry needed medical attention right away, but there we were in the middle of a motherfucking apocalypse.

“Elaina,” said Nick, “there’s no one around.”

“Love…it’s okay.” Henry mumbled between his teeth. He hissed as he tried to speak through the pain.

“I know there’s no one around! And no! It’s not okay, Henry! It’s not okay,” I cried. His eyes kept slowly opening and closing as much as they could. He was drifting in and out of consciousness. I held his beautiful, bloody face in my hands.

“I love you so much. Don’t you dare leave me. Please. Henry, please, can you hear me?” His eyes opened slowly, meeting mine. “I love you. You are my world. My rock. My everything. Please, don’t leave me. Please, I beg you. Whatever it takes. I will do whatever it takes to fix us.”

I laid my head on his chest and sobbed, sick with worry. It tore me up to see my strong, gentle, loving man dying. He wasn’t going to leave the world not knowing how I felt. It all just poured out of me.

“Henry, Henry, please listen. If it wasn’t for you, my world would be dark. I would have perished already. I don’t care what has happened, or what you are. I love you. Please! Stay with me. I’m so sorry I doubted you. I’m so sorry I left you. After I gave you back my ring, I regretted it completely. I love you so very much. Please fight. Fight, Henry. You have to fight for us.” He tried reaching for my face again, and then closed his eyes slowly.

While he was still conscious, Claire was trying to assess him. “Henry, tell me what hurts.” She was trying to get him to talk to her. He tried to laugh, but he grabbed his chest. “Your ribs? Chest?” She pressed down on them with a gentle hand and he cried out. It sent him back into an unconscious state. “He may have cracked ribs. I’m not one hundred percent sure. They could just be severely bruised. I don’t know. All I know is that he must be in a lot of pain for him to keep passing out from it.”

Claire called out for Thomas, but he stood in shock, still with the Sig aimed. “Thomas, snap out of it! Go get the bin in the back of Henry’s truck. We need to stabilize his chest.” Thomas didn’t move. “Thomas!” She screamed. “Oh, fuck it.”

Claire started to get up, then Sophie jumped up and ran to the truck. I was always amazed how fast she could move in those spiked heels. She ran back with the bin in hand, and started digging through it. She found a couple rolls of wide elastic bandages.

“Elaina, I need your help.” I shook my head, still crying. “We need to cut off his shirt and roll him so we can try to stabilize his chest with this bandage.” Nick leaned down and helped. He pulled a knife out of Henry’s pack and cut his shirt off. He was bruised all over and had many cuts, some deeper than others. Henry cried out in agony when he woke up as we tried to roll him.