"My eyelids are heavy," he murmured. "You make me happy. You make me the happiest man alive.. I couldn't live right without you, you know."
She laughed, but it sounded like a sob. "You could probably live better without me... I mean, you did just jump in front of a bullet for me."
He opened his eyes to look at her. They were dull. "Don't cry, baby. Don't cry. You're taking care of me.." He paused to take a breath. "I couldn't live better without. Not in a million years."
"Please," she said, shaking her head. "Please. Please keep talking. Please don't break your promise." Her voice cracked and she bent over the wound to hide the tears streaming down her face, working to extract the bullet.
She whimpered slightly, shaking her head as she pulled out the bullet. "I love you too. I love you too."
His heartbeat slowed ever so slightly and he shut his eyes again. "I don't know, my love. I can't think of anything to say." With the last sentence, he passed out.
"No, no, no, baby," she whimpered, bandaging up the wound quickly. "I need... I need..." Her chest heaved with her panicked breaths and she glanced around, noting that the battle around hadn't ceased. "No, no, no. Okay. Okay. Okay. Francis, we have to move, baby. We have to move. We..." She looked over at Penelope. "Penelope! I need to take Francis back!" The woman gave her a sharp glance before checking over the barricade. "We're almost done here. Go!" Poppy steeled herself before pulling his arm over his shoulder, grunting as she forced herself up. "Okay. Okay. Hold on, baby. Hold on, okay? Hold on."
She struggled for a moment under his weight, shifting him slightly. "I love you, you know," she told him tearfully as she began to pull him through the forest as gently as she could. "I can't... I can't do this without you. I need you here."
She almost slipped under his weight, grunting as her legs gave out, but she caught herself and kept going. "Do you remember the observatory, Craw? Do you remember when I fell asleep on your shoulder?"
After a moment, he helped support himself, gasping in pain. "I remember," he murmured, his voice quiet.
"I loved you back then, did you know? I'm not sure I knew at the time, but looking back, I definitely was in love with you then."
