I was too stunned to feel the pain. I couldn’t breathe yet. What had led to this defining moment? How had life and death nearly collided to the point where it was almost insufferable?
I asked myself these questions as I watched him. He looked more hurt than I did; and I was the one with a gash running across my back. I’m sorry. His eyes whispered each time he worked up enough courage to look at me. Secretly, I forgave him. Secretly, I understood all of this. Secretly, I wanted to hate him. But I couldn’t.
For all of his strength, he looked so helpless. So weak. So…childlike.
Then, the pain came. The white pain. It took everything in me to keep from crying out, because I knew that would only hurt him more.