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She blinked but her eyelids felt so heavy Wade grew fuzzier and she felt cold He looked at her with such torture in his eyes

"Why did you take a bullet meant for led to respond, battling against the lure of unconsciousness She licked her lips, trying to rid herself of the odd slickness slithering over her tongue She couldn’t breathe right, and she wasn’t sure she could respond to his question, but it was too important He had to know

"Because I love you and if you died, it would destroy ood ht I’d learned what love was I saw it It was beautiful Worth dying for But you taught me how to love and be loved It’s all I’ve ever wanted and you gave that to me"

Her voice became fainter, more somber as she drifted further and further away A sense of peace settled over her, theshe’d ever experienced She s hotly down her temples

"I’m free," she whispered "I’m finally free"

"Eliza!"

The world faded rapidly asorders while another pressed on her chest The last i at her not to leave hi Wade as he tried to lunge for her

TWENTY-SEVEN

WADE stood in the surgical waiting rooht on his clothing, his hands His tea for word He could feel the weight of Dane’s stare, but there was no judglanced at the rest of her team from his periphery, and they were little better Their expressions were drawn tight, hopelessness evident in their posture and stance

Eliza had been in surgery for hours She’d coded as the EMS personnel had arrived and were atte CPR in a load-and-go situation That had been the last ti she was finally free

Grief welled within hiht fists If only he’d gotten there a few minutes earlier If only Eliza hadn’t thrown herself in front of him to take the bullet h about him to put themselves between him and death No one had ever loved him until Eliza, and God, he couldn’t lose her now He cursed the ti the inevitable She’d barreled into his life, upending his carefully ordered existence, and for the first time in a lifetihting for her life Because she’d saved his

Don’t leave ht I can’t live without you Please don’t leavehis chest and throat until he couldn’t breathe All he could see and hear was Eliza screa herself in front of hi, then hi to the floor in a pool of blood He’d never forget that sight Never get it out of his e would haunt his drea in bed next to hi him