amelia-hurricane-shepherd:

Amelia seemed to float in and out of
consciousness, with an emphasis on
out. Blurred vision managed to catch
a few glimpses of the army vet above
her before fading again to black. The
faintly registered instruction to keep
her eyes open felt an impossible feat
to accomplish, and though her buzz
was gone, she felt so distant from her
body.

             ”Teddy?” she mumbled, only barely
              coherent. “I don’t— I don’t want to
              die.”

“Oh,  honey,”  Teddy  whispered, voice
softening  in  spite  of  herself.  The girl
she stood over,  so  strong  before   the
demons had  broken her —— she was
nothing   more   than  a    c h i l d   now;
scared, vulnerable, helpless. “Amelia,
listen to me. I know you’re scared, but
I’m not going to let you die, okay?  All
you have to do is  s t a y  w i t h   m e.”

              She  knew  better  than to make  promises,
              n o   m a t t e r how much she might have
              wanted to. The  debris of broken promises
              around her feet  c u t  her  with  every step
              she took since she’d made them, and she
              wasn’t  about  to  add another shard to the
              f r a y .  Not until she was sure she could
              deliver.