Boundaries Within

If death comes for everyone at some point in their life, why can't it be swift? Why is there intense pain until the utmost end for some? Was it some sort of karma collecting on a debt? Tess knew her suffering came with nothing but karma for the things she had done in her life. As she lay on the marble floor trying to catch her breath, she couldn't. She was drowning in her own blood. Tess was being granted exactly what she served to others. Unable to speak, her hand reached out for Colin. All she wanted was for him to hold her until she died, and her suffering was over. Death couldn't be too far away at this point. Feeling his warm hand grasp hers, she held tightly as if the joining of their hands would somehow heal her. Yes, she still had some hope of surviving. Coughing up the warm, sticky liquid, which she knew was blood, darkness within her peripheral vision was closing in. Tears slipped from the corner of her eyes, as Colin rolled her to her side draining some of the blood from her mouth. A piercing pain burned through her back and felt like an explosion in her chest, making her eyes wide with the agonizing pain. As he laid her back, she caught a moment of air that was quickly replaced with blood, again. Where was the reaper, she wondered as her eyes rolled back, then focused on Colin again as he was saying something. The words were incoherent for the most part, but she did hear him tell her to fight. What did her want her to do, fight death, the reaper, the almighty? If it was her time, short as her life may have been, she couldn't stop it, nor could she have stopped the bullet that pierce her back. Shot in the back! Whoever did this couldn't even face her head on. Too bad she wouldn't survive to execute her revenge. Feeling her body relax, her hand slipped from Colin's, and her eyes began to close as the darkness filled in the remaining bit of her vision. Finally, the pain and the struggled disappeared.