Midnight Lips | Ghost

𝐂𝐇. 78

𝐕𝐀𝐋
༻❁༺

     The helicopter exploded into pieces, sending our bodies into the air and away. My vision flashed, my ears rang, my senses blurred, and the distant ache ran throughout my spine as I was slammed against the ground. I wasn't so sure where I had landed, only that I was still alive and very much in pain.

The smell of burning and smoke filled my lungs, and I coughed, groaning as I rolled around on the ground and pushed myself to my knees and hands. I glanced at the source. The fire was alive, flames vibrating with the need to swallow me. It was scary.

But then what was left of the helicopter began to shrink into itself, and the entire place began to shake. Cracks began to form on the ground, and I pushed myself back and crawled away. Suddenly the ground was opening and the heli was falling through a hole. The rooftop was collapsing. We needed to get out of here.

We.
Simon.
Oh God.

My senses came back, and with it my thoughts and purposes. I pushed myself to my feet and looked around, searching for Simon while ignoring my sore body. My heart was racing inside my chest and I got the overwhelming urge to sob and cry my eyes out.

Please let him be okay.

He had shielded me from the impact, put himself between me and the explosion, how in the hell was he going to be in a better condition than me? My eyes watered and my vision blurred, but I rubbed at them frustrated and desperate.

I saw his body lying facedown on the ground not very far away from me, and I was more worried than relieved, I found him but I still wasn't able to tell if he was okay or if he was even breathing. I limped to him while clutching my shoulder, didn't waste any second, and dropped to my knees. Half of his clothes were torn apart on the back, flesh burned red. When I pulled his body around with my working arm, my lip trembled as I saw his bleeding face. I brought my forehead and pressed it to his, silently praying.

Please, please, please.

I brought my shaking fingers to his throat and... there. A pulse. I found it. He was still alive.

I gasped a large breath. "Simon." I grabbed his face, shook his body, and checked for other injuries. Apart from the wound on his leg, there weren't other lethal ones. "Come on, wake up." I smacked his face softly, not wanting to hurt him further, and yelled his name a last time.

He finally reacted, and the first thing he did was cup the back of my head and hug me to his body. I sighed, losing myself in him for a few seconds and letting myself enjoy his warmth, so glad that he was alive and breathing. He buried his head in my neck like he always did, then brought his mouth to the shell of my ear and—

"I love you."

I shook my head, the words shattering me completely. I pulled back and looked into his shining eyes. "Don't... You can't say them now. Not like this. Not like you are saying goodbye to me." Tears fell down my face. I wanted to soak his words in, but it was impossible in a situation like the one we were in.

He cupped my cheek and brought me closer. "I'll never say goodbye to you, my love."

The ground shook, alarming me. It was a warning, that if we didn't get out, it was going to swallow us next. I slid my working arm under Simon's body and pushed him to a sitting position. He groaned but didn't stop me. Putting his arm around my shoulders, I struggled to pull him up to his feet, and when I did, he leaned most of his weight on me. I knew then that he was so much worse than I thought.

"I'm sorry," he whispered beside me. "I didn't mean to kill him."

"Let's not worry about it."

"It's just..." He sucked in a breath. "I was so scared of losing you."