Hidden (Book 3 of the Immune Series)

Goodbye

Sakir

I catch Mya's body when she's thrown into mine and cradle her against my chest as Isaac tackles President Ashford around the middle. The two of them roll away in a tangle of fists and spit, but all I can think about is the little girl in my arms.

The girl who just took a bullet for me.

Athena's voice drifts over to me, but I block her out.

Turning so that my back is to Ashford and Isaac, I lay Mya down on the floor. Panic blooms in my stomach and chest as the glass crunches under her small frame. Her hands clutch her stomach, trembling like trash bags caught in the wind. She takes short, quick breaths faster than she should, and her eyes are wide and alert.

"Hold on, Mya," I whisper, pressing my hands on the growing red circle on her stomach. "You'll be fine. I'll take care of you."

She shakes her head, and her face contorts in pain.

"Stop lying to me," she mumbles, barely able to open her mouth as she grits her teeth. "I knew what I was doing."

Her words slam into my chest like a hurricane, and tears build up in my eyes.

I can't lose another friend tonight. My body can't handle it.

"Then why did you do it?" I snap as I continue to press my hands to her. She fights them and winces, but I don't relent.

"Because I had nothing to lose."

"Screw that, Mya."

Mya manages to slip her hands under mine and loosen my grip on her stomach. The red expands with every passing second. A gunshot sounds behind me, followed by more screaming. Athena beats on the glass of her cell and shouts at me. The words fall like confetti around me, useless and vain.

"Let me go," Mya whispers, pushing my hands away from her stomach. She's turning pale, more than she was before. She struggles to keep her eyes open as she looks up at me, and her lips tremble with the effort it requires to talk.

"I can't," I reply, wrapping my arms around her body and pulling her close to me. She hisses in pain, but I press my ear to her chest to make sure the vital organ still works.

"You have to."

I shake my head, and the tiny drumbeat flutters like a moth's wings scattering dust. The blood loss will send her into shock. Her heart's weak already.

"Let me go, Six," she hisses, but she wraps her arms around me nonetheless. Her fingers are cold to my bare back.

"Please, hold on. Athena can help you. She'll save you," I plead, lifting my head up to look at her again. Her eyes rest closed, and her breathing evens out.

"I don't want to be saved. I want my brother."

She cracks the dam in my chest, and I let myself cry. The heavy drops fall on her auburn hair and dirty face. I feel for a pulse, but the search proves harder than before. It linger miles below ice, tapping almost unrecognizable to me. The beats are few and far between.

"Goodbye, Mya," I force myself to say. With that, I lie her back on the floor, cradling her head until it rests on solid ground.

"Goodbye, Sakir."

She takes one strangled breath, and blood trickles out of the corner of her mouth as she coughs. She wipes it away with the back of her hand, but she lacks the strength to move her hand away.

This wasn't supposed to go this way. She wasn't supposed to die for me, wasn't supposed to die at all actually. Yet, I watch the life leave her, watch it fade away like a perfect sunrise of brilliant pink clouds and purple rays of sunlight. I watch her hand fall limp across her face and death settle over her like a blanket of snow across a field of wildflowers. It covers everything beautiful.