screamed, lashing out with the ruby blade. As the blade swung through the air, it cut through the darkness, allowing light to bleed through. Crazed, she swiped over and over, a war cry on her lips, her body pouring every last piece of her into the swing.
The blade cut through the darkness, slicing it away piece by piece until all that was left was light. Lexia laid down, the floor beneath her soft, the world around her warm and comforting. A calmness settled over her and two paths formed for her to follow.
One road led to knowledge. The knowledge of all she’d lost, and knowledge of all she’d gained. The other took her away, away from those who waited beyond the darkness. Into oblivion, she’d drift, feeling no pain, no loss, yet if she took this path, she’d never again feel all she was destined for.
Standing, Lexia looked at the options before her, warring with all that was inside of her. Yet as she longed to hold her daughter again, to see Lincoln smile again, the road into oblivion called. She was tired, tired of fighting, of living every day with the knowledge of who she was: the good and the bad.
You told me you’d live.
Derrick! Lexia ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck, falling into his embrace.
You deserve to live, Lex.
I deserve nothing, Derrick.
What about Lola? Does she not deserve to have a mother? Does Lincoln not deserve to see you live? This isn’t the end for you, not yet. There is so much happiness destined for you.
Kissing Derrick on the cheek, his words her shield, Lexia made her choice and travelled into the blinding light.
Waking to the sharp pain of reality, a broken sob left her lips as she opened her eyes.
“Lex?”
Lincoln’s voice was like the sweetest of dreams and the most terrible of nightmares. There was a part of her that needed him like one needed breath, yet there was another half which couldn’t cope with the feelings Lincoln brought. Their love, the bond between them so great it broke through every wall she’d ever built, and although the game was over, Lucy dead, Lexia needed those walls. She needed them in place to breathe, to keep her heart beating because she wasn’t ready to face all she’d done and she wasn’t sure she’d ever be.
“Lexia, I thought, thought…” His voice drifted to silence as fierce emotion played across his eyes. Reaching for her hand, he squeezed, holding onto her.
Lexia didn’t pull away, though the contact brought her pain, pain in the knowledge she could never go back to being the girl she used to be. Squeezing back, she smiled at him because it’s what he needed, and after all he’d given her, he deserved this and so much more.
“How do you feel?”
“Weak,” she rasped and coughed, her throat dry.
“I’ll get you water,” he said, looking to the door and then back at her.
She could see the indecision in his eyes; he didn’t want to let her go.
“I’ll still be here when you return,” she whispered.
Bending down, he kissed her softly on the forehead. A tear rolled from her eye as another piece of her heart fractured. You deserve so much more.
Lincoln returned with a glass of water and Caden.
“Hey, Doc,” Lexia said quietly. Coughing, she tried to continue. “You fix me…gain?”
“Drink,” Caden instructed. Lincoln lifted the glass to her lips, his hand sliding behind her to steady her head. She let him because she wasn’t a good person. She let him believe just a little bit longer, they could still be. Selfishly, she leaned into his hand, remembering all they used to be, all she could never have.
“I was not the one to fix you this time. Your injuries were quiet extensive. Severe third degree burns to most of your back and shoulders. Sarah arranged for you to be taken by chopper to a government facility after you were dug out.”
“Lola,” Lexia gasped, clambering to sit up.
“Whoa, Lex, she’s fine. Asleep actually, that girl is a night owl,” Lincoln told her with a fond smile.
“She wasn’t hurt?” Lexia asked, laying back down.
“A few minor injuries. All have healed now. She heals as fast as you,” Caden answered.
“The others? Grey, Alice, Caleb? God, there are so many. I need to get up, make sure my people are okay.” Lexia wasn’t listening now, her head full of chaos– of people’s names and faces. Those she’d promised to save but then hadn’t been around. Did Sarah come