Chapter 46
DOVE
Is this is what death feels like?
Not the act of dying. I think I might be past that point.
I don’t feel any pain. Can’t feel the blood flowing from my arm anymore.
It feels like I’m floating in a warm bath. And there’s an arm around me.
Holding me.
Loving me.
I smile, sinking back, letting the heat warm me.
The light shines a little brighter, calling me.
Maybe this is what you feel right before the end, after falling eighty-three floors: just…peace.
Warmth, light, love, and peace.
If this is the end, maybe it’s not so bad.
My eyes flutter, and suddenly, the bright light goes away as my vision clears.
I don’t understand.
I’m in the bathtub, but why am I wearing clothes? And why can’t I move?
Panic sinks in, but then my eyes land on the arm around me, and the hand splayed across my middle.
I know those tattoos.
“Bane…”
My vision fades out again, then comes back.
“Bane? Are you there?”
Somehow, I drag my hand to his. I tap my fingers weakly against his skin.
“Bane, it’s me…”
That comforting sensation of warmth and light keeps coming and going, like a tide washing against a faraway shore. I force my fingers to slide over his hand, to the pulse point at his wrist.
I don't feel one.
And suddenly, I’m awake.
“Bane!” I cry out, my head lolling to one side against his body. “Bane, wake…wake up…”
My eyes fall shut.
“Don’t go,” I whisper. “Not without me.”
A tear slides down my cheek. He’s not moving at all.
“Please don’t leave me.”
“Shhh, I’m right here, baby,” a voice croons softly from the darkness.
“Help is coming, Lark. Stay with me, baby. Stay with me.”
It’s not Bane.
It’s a woman’s voice, and a woman’s soft hands that are holding me to her chest and stroking my hair.
“Stay with me, baby.”
“Stay with me. Mommy’s here.”