The last laugh

The gunshot echoed in the frigid air. Warmth, scarlet warmth splattered across her face. That was when Eric fell. It felt like they were trapped underwater. Everything happened as if in slow motion even though she knew it had taken less than a fraction of a second. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream. She heard his body fall to the ground, eyes still open, still alive. Good. She heard him laugh and thought to herself, that it was odd, he’d just been shot at. He was injured. Why was he laughing? Why? Another gunshot. Hers. She felt the vibration, the momentum of the bullet leaving her gun. The gunman dropped. She had always been an accurate shot. Hell, she had been a sniper. But wait, something was wrong. Eric, was wrong. His eyes that had been open a while ago were now closed and he had a smile on his face. But he wasn’t even looking at her. Eric? ERIC?! She screamed his name till her voice was raw, pressing the handkerchief she pulled from her pocket against the wound. He wasn’t responding. The paramedics came. They’d been alerted minutes ago when they had first arrived on the scene. Eric had been so confident then that they would finally catch the gunman that had been killing people randomly in subway stations.He had been right, but at what cost? She stared at the gun in her hands as they wheeled his body away to the morgue. She knew what they would say. Gunshot wound to the chest. Punctured lung, blood loss. Her face was sticky with blood. Eric's blood, smeared all over the handkerchief and her face. She felt like she would never be alright again. She had lost her partner, her friend, and her love. The gun felt right as she lifted it and placed it at her temple. Her finger was on the trigger. One bullet and everything would be over. She had enough to make that one last shot. But something about Eric's dying smile, his laughter, stopped her. That smile had been goodbye and that laugh that she had loved so much, it was a sign that he had been ready to go and to tell her not to give up. He never wanted to hold her back. He wanted her to take that shot. Just like he wanted her to continue living. The gun skittered across the ground as she rose from where she had been crouching next to Eric's body. She wouldn't disappoint him.

~Rei Shiori