“Knox.”
I shake his shoulder. Nothing.
“Knox, please.”
Harder. Still nothing. My hands find his face, his neck, searching desperately for a pulse, for any sign that he’s still alive under all that blood.
Silence where his heartbeat should be.
“Please.” The word comes out as a whisper, barely audible over the wind. “Please, I need you.”
I’m shaking him with both hands now, desperate, frantic, completely out of my mind. My palms slip on the blood covering his chest.
I press down on one of the wounds, trying to stop the bleeding, knowing it’s useless, knowing there are too many holes in him for pressure to help.
“Please wake up.”
Louder now. My voice cracking on the words.
“Knox, please. I need you. Please wake up.”
I’m crying. I don’t know when I started. Tears hot on my frozen ch
