Hiraeth [GxG]

Chapter 30

I zipped through the hallways, through the double doors, until I was finally right beside Mila's bed. I looked down at her, and my heart was breaking. She looked so pale, and sweat was accumulating on her forehead. I noticed that one of the main doctors was sitting there holding an Ice pack to the back of Mila's neck. I put my hand over hers and startled her a bit. She looked up at me, and I saw that she had been crying.

"I'll take over from here, okay? I need to talk to my wife now." The doctor looked at Mila and nodded. She took her hand off the ice pack, and I replaced it with mine. I sat on the bed and started rubbing Mila's cheek. I could tell she knew it was me because she stirred awake.

"Emma?" She squinted at me. Once she realized it was truly me, she bolted up and brought me into a tight hug. "I can't believe you're actually here." She pulled back and crashed her lips onto mine. I kissed her back, and at that moment when my heart usually swells with happiness, but instead, it was breaking. She pulled back from me, and her face immediately went into a frown.

"Emma, what's wrong?" She cupped my face and was wiping my tears away. I observed her eyes at this moment. I tried to engrave every single hue, every single detail of them in my brain because soon I knew I would never see them again.

"We found the witch, Mila. We found her." I felt the tears falling down my face at a quicker pace.

"She didn't give the answer we were hoping for, did she?" I shook my head no and collapsed into her. I put my face into the crook of her neck and breathed in her scent. I tried to engrave her scent into my brain as well because I knew soon I wouldn't ever smell it again. I wrapped my arms tightly around her.

"Mila, I don't want to lose you." I sobbed out. She drew small circles on the back with one hand and held my head closer to her shoulder with the other. "I can't do this without you. I don't want to." She pulled me in closer to her and kissed my head.

"What did she say?" She said this in a small, sad whisper. I pulled back to look into her eyes.

"She said that you are the cure. That your essence, your soul, is the missing piece to the cure. In order for the cure to work, you have to have your soul slash essence extracted, and that combined with what the doctors have now will work." She sighed and held my cheek with one hand and grabbed my hand with the other.

"So, either way, I was meant to die?" I nodded and felt my face contort as tears rushed down my face.

"Okay." She whispered out to me. "I'll do it. If it means that I can eradicate the virus and save millions, I will give them whatever they need from me." I shook my head no.

"No, Mila. I don't want to lose you." She gave me a sad look.

"You were going to anyway; at least now I'll be saving everyone." She gave a sad smile, and a few tears of her own fell down her cheek. We both looked towards the plexiglass when we heard a knock. It was Chloe, and she held up her wrist with a worried look. Her veins were dark and had spread a little bit up from her wrist. Fuck, she was sick now too.

"If I didn't already have my mind made up, I definitely do now." Mila made her way to stand up from the bed, and when she put her feet on the ground, her legs were wobbly. I stood up quickly and supported her weight.

We made our way out of the room where everyone who was quarantined was and headed to a separate room. This was going to be the room where Chloe's mom would take Mila's essence out of her. I was sitting down in a chair with Mila on my lap; I wouldn't let her out of my arms, I couldn't. Not yet. We were waiting for everyone to show up to say goodbye. Mila may have accepted that she was going to die, but I couldn't. I didn't want to.

"It will all be okay, Emma. I will always be there with you." I pulled her lips down to mine and gave her a passionate kiss.

"I don't know who you're trying to convince by saying that, my love. Because none of this is okay, I shouldn't have to say goodbye to you. We were supposed to have forever." She gave me a sad smile and leaned her head against mine.

"We will always have forever with each other. As I said, I may not be there physically, but I promise I'll still be there. You may not physically feel me there, but I'll still be holding your hand, holding you, and stealing kisses from you. I'll be there for everything, I promise." I just sobbed into her shoulder. The door to the room opened, and I heard people filing inside. I wiped my tears away and stood up with Mila. The kids immediately ran up to her, and She bent down, bringing them into a big group hug.

"We don't want you to go, momma." I couldn't hold back my tears as I heard their little voices break. "Please don't leave, momma." Their pleas brought me to my knees. Literally, I couldn't support my weight any longer. I felt a hand on my back and Looked up to find Lance right there. I could see his eyes were a little glossy from unshed tears. He grabbed my hand and helped me up.

"I've got you, don't worry." He supported my weight and helped me walk over to Mila and the kids. I bent down and brought them all into me to make the group hug complete.

The kids sat over on my lap; each one curled into my neck, crying. I stared at Mila and watched her hug and say goodbye to everyone. The closer she got to the end of everyone she needed to say goodbye to, the more shattered I became. The more incomplete and hollow I felt. Every person in this room had tears falling down their faces. Finally, those unshed tears Lance had in his eyes earlier were unleashed.

I saw her get the last person in the room she needed to say goodbye to, Chloe's mom. I knew it was time. I didn't want it to be, but I couldn't stop it. There was no other way, but god do I wish there were. Mila broke the hug with Chloe's mom and looked over at me. Our eyes locked, and I swear I flashed back to the first moment our eyes met. Back in that high school bathroom with her nose broken. Even with a broken nose, she was still breathtaking. Even now, as she looks very sickly, she is still gorgeous.

She started to make her way over to me, and I was frozen in time. I couldn't move. She was soon bent down in front of where I was sitting, looking at our kids. They leaned up and attached themselves to Mila. They were now curled into her neck and had a death grip on her. She kissed both of them on the head.

"I love you to the end of the universe and back, my little bears." I heard their sniffles intensify a bit when she said that.

"We love you to the end of the universe and back too, momma." Both kids said in return. Anita came over and picked up the kids out of Mila's arms. She stood up, and I matched her. I didn't care that we were in a room full of people. I pulled her lips to mine and poured every ounce of love I could at that moment into that kiss. I held her close and didn't let her lips free. At that moment, I saw every memory we had together flash throughout my mind. Everything from the time we first met, to defeating my ex, to having our wedding, to having the kids, to now: every kiss, every smile, every hug, every handhold. I finally let her lips go, and I leaned my head against her.

"I love you to the end of the universe and back. I will never stop loving you." I said this as I kissed the top of her head. She looked up at me with tearful eyes.

"I love you to the end of the universe and back too." She cupped my right cheek with her hand and wiped a few stray tears away. "I will love you forever. I'm always here, I promise." With that, she dropped her hands down and took one of mine. I didn't let go of her hand as she started walking towards Chloe's mom. She stopped and looked back at me with a reassuring smile and gave my hand a heartbeat squeeze before my hand dropped from hers.

I saw Mila lying on a bed, and Chloe's mom put her hands on Mila. One on her chest and one on her stomach. I soon saw a bright light float out of Mila, and as that happened, my heart stopped beating. She was gone.