Beyond the Empyreal Stars

37.

37.

She saw him looking up in wonder as the red blood pooled underneath him. His eyes went in and out of focus, looking into hers or the clearing sky above them.

"I love you," Duke whispered.

"No. Do not say it like a goodbye." Odette shook her head, trying to press her hand to the wound on his shoulder...trying to find something to press against his back...but there was too much blood...

Glancing up at his face, she could see him fading.

"You have to help me!" she screamed as Nova, Bas, Carson, and Graham stood there in shock. "We have to..."

Alanna and Sara were running across the rooftop, Tansy close behind with Padric.

"We have to stop the bleeding, see what..."

Duke's hand dropped from her face, landing with a low thump to his side. When it happened, Odette immediately leaned over him, putting her hands on either side of his face. Those blue eyes met hers and a small smile stretched across his face, just enough to show those dimples.

"...love...good...bye."

Wide-eyed, Odette stared at him as she shook her head quickly. "Please! Please, don't leave me! Duke!"

"Tell me everything you know," Sara demanded quickly as she threw her medical bag to the ground beside her. She grabbed a pair of scissors and began cutting open his shirt. "Where are all of his injuries, Odette? Where?"

Odette nodded, quickly wiping under her eyes with the backs of her hands. "An...an arrow to the shoulder that went clean threw before...well, it looks like it had been ripped out while being twisted. And then...Pallas..." She choked on her words, looking over at the dead Terrian exile a few feet from them. "He stabbed a knife into his back. I am not sure where exactly..."

Alanna was on her other side at Duke's head. "My little boy," she whispered in tears, leaning down to press her forehead against his. "You can't leave us. You can't."

Sara started digging through her bag, pulling out her HoloTab. After quickly powering it up, she stood over Duke's body, his chest barely moving, and scanned him to look for the internal damage done.

"Like you said, the arrow went clean through, but it looks like there was some muscle damage from being pulled out..."

She scanned over his abdomen again, not willing to turn him over to assess the external damage without doing more internally. When the images appeared, her face paled as she slowly looked up.

"The dagger...it completely severed his spinal cord and shattered the two vertebrae it went through. There's nothing...there's nothing I can do. We don't have the equipment here to deal with it on Earth..."

The weight of her words crushed them all. Carson dropped to his knees, his head in his hands as Graham put his hands on his shoulders. Nova was in Bas's arms. Alanna was crying even harder, pressing kisses to her son's face.

Odette dropped her head to Duke's chest, hearing his heart slowing its pace before she had to strain to hear it. Her tears fell on his bloodstained shirt.

They didn't have the equipment to help him there.

On Earth.

Odette jumped up, making all eyes land on her. "We need to get him to Terra. Immediately."

Sara shook her head, giving her sorrowful look. "He wouldn't make the journey in his condition, especially with the warp speeds and getting through the Spaceway. We've all heard the stories..."