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FLATLINE

ALEX

Dad is gone by the time Sigma House swarms. Maddox and Asher pull me off Mila’s limp body so the paramedics can get to her. My bloodied fist finds Maddox’s face as he shoves me back another step. And even if I know they’re doing it for her own good, it tears me in half to be ripped away.

Paramedics hover on either side of her. One checks her vitals while the other assesses the wound.

She’s still bleeding. Pale as a fallen angel lying in the middle of the fraternity built from sin. The only good left on this earth, and she’s trying to float away from it.

They lift her when the gurney rolls into the kitchen, and one of her arms hangs limp at her side. I grab her hand, refusing to let her go as they roll her to the ambulance out front. There’s still warmth in her skin, and it’s all that tethers me here.

“Stay with me.”

People and sounds blur as the paramedics lead Mila to the ambulance .

I climb inside after her, not letting her go. It’s a mess of wires and needles. They slice her sweatshirt down the front.

Her skin is too pale.

Her eyes are too empty.

“Stay with me.”

I remember death. I stared it in the face and begged it to take me. It took bites of my flesh and ran currents through my bones. I tasted its final breath. Death and I were friends until it sent me back here.

I remember death—it was relief. I knew someday I’d be here again, and I would welcome it with open arms. I’d savor the end. Because death would be here for me.

Not her.

“Stay with me.”

It’s my last shred of hope as the paramedic flicks on the heart monitor and a flat line stares back.