Part V- Another Head Aches, Another Heart Breaks

'Are you ok?' you ask me.

A stupid question.

Kind, and gentle and loving, so very like you.
But stupid and pointless.
Very unlike you.

'Mhmmm' I murmur. A lie, but a signal that I am at the very least still here.

'Can you see anything?'

Now that she asks, I realise I actually can't. That bang must have got the light, or the power, or something.
'Nuh uh', Meaning no. For some reason, I'm incapable of using real words.

We both clench up as we hear the shuffle of footsteps, breathing. We could feel the air change and somehow we knew we'd been waiting for this.
'Who...who's there?' I'm instantly struck with the thought that you are a complete idiot.
Haven't you heard of playing dead?

I hear a gruff voice bark something that sounded like 'FREEZE' or maybe sneeze, or pees, or trees, who knows, who cares.

But something inside me relaxes as I realise that this voice does not belong to our villain, it has none of the fear, the desperation, the stage-fright of our villain.. Something is growled about the police force and a torchlight skitters over us like a caffeinated beetle.

Skitters over us and onto that which I had so efficiently forgotten, denied, repressed.

You.

Still, cold, silent.

Three things you never were while you were alive.

Three things I had not accepted you would be when I opened my eyes.

She screams from next to me, and the police realise what they've done.

Found victims number one, two and three. Only one of which will not have to remember this moment for the rest of their life. Because its already over.

I can't breathe. I can't think, I can't move, can't deal with this.
As the policeman pulls me to my feet the world spins, from shock and blood-loss.　

’Shit!’ I hear him say. 'This one's taken one to the stomach! Looks pretty bad'

I vaguely register that he's talking about me as I hear another say she has taken one to the left calf.
All I can see is you.
They put me back on the ground, to wait for paramedics.

One young guy stays with us while the rest of the party move on down the corridor, to wave their torchlights over other peoples agony and hand them bandaids.

'You should probably look away' he says, and the sound of her crying floats through to me.
I automatically put my arm around her and pay no attention to the pain it causes when she leans on me. I can't feel anything.

I am numb, but in agony.
I am silent, but screaming.

Surely this cannot be real.