She thought of everything that had led up to that moment. Every turn, every decision, every thought. And she wondered if just one of those turns could have been different, if any thought could have been changed. Would it have changed anything? Would they be in this mess? No, she thought. This was the beginning of an awful end. There was no way out of this. But she wasn't going to leave him here. She would die with him. There was no way she could walk out of there without him, leaving him to bleed to death, unless they got to him again. She'd already decided long ago that she would stick with him. No matter what. Even if he hated he for that. For breaking her promise.

She felt warm, wet fingers slip around her arm as she held him. He could hardly speak. "Shh…" she whispered, trying to hold her tears back. She leaned back against the wall, holding his head in her lap.

"Nat…" His blood streaked her arm, pooled through her fingers. She looked down at him, caressing his face as he closed his eyes. She swept his hair, sticky with sweat and blood, from his forehead. His eyes reopened and he stared off to the wall across the room. His breathing was shallow and raspy, hitched. She heard the blood rattling in his lungs as he struggled to breathe.

"Ryan?" Natalia whispered. He glanced back up at her, his eyes going in and out of focus.

She gently wiped the blood from his face with her shirt sleeve. It did little good. Tears filled her eyes and broke through her barrier as she held back a sob. She ran her fingers over the bruises covering his face. Over his swollen eye. Over his soft cheekbone. Settled onto his collar bone. She rubbed his chest absentmindedly, as though to sooth the both of them.

They heard footsteps outside in the hall. She watched as his eyes roamed over to the door. There was shouting, footsteps thundering upon the floor.

Natalia nodded to herself. She closed her eyes, bowed her head, and did something she hadn't done in years.

She prayed.