I whirled around to come within inches of Steven’s anguished face. His eyes were rimmed with tears, his face as pale as I’d ever seen it. He crumpled to the ground and pulled my broken, bloody body to him, his tears finally spilling and mingling with my blood.

“Open your eyes, open your eyes, open your eyes, open your eyes…â€? he sobbed again and again, holding me to him. Ian stood over us, crying and in shock.

“I can feel his breath! He’s breathing, he’s breathing!â€?

Ian fell to his knees next to me and ran his hand through my sweaty, bloody, matted hair. “Ash. Open your eyes. Come on love, don’t do this to us. Open them.â€?

I couldn’t bear to watch them suffer this way. I knew – somehow, I knew – that there was no hope. The wound was deep and I felt so cold. I laid my other self down, in my body and I was hit with an immense shock of pain that made my body jerk. Steven held me tighter. My eyes fluttered for a second and I opened them. Steven gasped, and looked quickly at Ian to make sure he was watching.