Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

heard the cock of a gun. I raised my eyes slowly, carefully, to see General Tarques pointing the weapon directly at me.
    He was going to shoot me in front of everyone? I tried to breath and turned my eyes toward Lukas's room. He was just past his door, his body shaking.
    Three things happened then. General Tarques squeezed the trigger. I moved. Lukas ran.
    I felt the bullet go through my right shoulder and pain exploded all over my body. I couldn't see the world in front of me clearly anymore, only a blurry twisted version of it. Someone was screaming - it was me.
    Firm hands surrounded me, holding me tightly. Lukas' breath fell on my ear, his voice the only thing that was real in this world of pain. "Let it flow," he whispered, his voice hidden behind my screams. Only mine to hear. "Let it consume you. It will be okay. I am not letting you go."
    The pain seemed endless and unwavering. One that I wouldn't wish even to the man who shot me. I felt my body doing unnatural things. My skin stretching, my bones moving. The only thing to carry me through it all was Lukas's arms, the feel of his body against mine. I knew that without him, the pain would be worse.
    My breath felt torn from me, and my heartbeat thumped loudly against my chest. My shoulder burned with pain, and I could feel the blood pouring out of me. Then I felt something very odd. My own body snapped into place, and the pain suddenly subsided. The world around me slowly stabilized. I started to feel the oddness of having a body that was not my own.
    "See," General Tarques put his gun back on its holster. "The boy just needed some motivation." Lukas glared at him, uncaring that the General saw his anger. General Tarques didn't seem to care. He just looked down at us, and for a brief second I saw his mouth form into a thin grin of amusement that vanished as quickly as it appeared. "Start the field training," he demanded. "I want them ready within the year."
    After the General left, I felt that I could finally breathe. Lukas held on to me, and when the medical staff came over to tend to me I realized I was holding on to him too.
    "Go get the gurney," Dr. Mercier ordered and the medics left. "Everyone back to work." Pale faces slowly returned to their computers and tables while we waited for the medics to return. For that minute it was just the three of us.
    "Did you feel it?" Lukas whispered in my ear and I nodded. His arms held me closer, his voice becoming low and secret. "I helped him shift," he revealed to Dr. Mercier, and she gave him the briefest of nods as acknowledgement. The medics returned and gently put me on the gurney. I didn't want to let go of Lukas, but I knew I had to. His fingers curled around mine and I felt the wetness of the blood that flowed down my arm. As they took me away our fingers started to slip apart, but Lukas held on until my mind drifted to nothingness.
    ****
    When I woke up I was not alone.
    I was back in my room, the lights dimmed down, and I could see the bright green light of the door device blinking.
    "How does your shoulder feel?" Lukas asked. He had dragged the blue chair next to my bed.
    "Hurts," I answered. "Am I me?"
    "Yeah," Lukas smiled. He stood slowly and pulled the covers down. "Scoot over," he said, and I obeyed without questioning. We laid side by side, his fingers hovering over my bandaged shoulder but not touching.
    "Thank you for saving me," I said and met his eyes. "Do you think next time I will be able to do it alone?"
    "Absolutely," he reassured me. "The first time is the hardest and the most painful, after that it gets easier."
    We fell into comfortable silence. I was content just to know that Lukas was with me; to feel his presence next to me. I realized then that he was the most important thing to me. The one thing I didn't ever want to live without. The tips of his fingers grazed my bandaged gently, then slowly connected against my neck and travelled across the side of my face, ending on my temple.
    "I saw it you know," he said. "He was aiming right here." Lukas rubbed his thumb against my forehead.
    "You ran to save me," I leaned towards the touch, wanting more of it.
    He shook his head. "I knew I wasn't fast enough to make it. I was going to be too late to save you, but I was going to be right there to snap his neck." He growled the last word.
    "Lukas," I reached and grabbed his free hand, intertwining our fingers. "That would have been pointless."
    He shook his head again. "Not to me. I know I tend