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She knew they were going to try to hurt him. He had told her about what he found out during his mushroom trip. The townspeople murdered every version of him. That's why she hadn't let him out of her sight until now.
Tabitha had to talk to her kids. She stepped away for maybe ten minutes, and everything went to shit. Julie had told her about what she had seen, story-walking, that she saw Jim die. She heard a loud grunt, then a scream, then Donna yelling for help. Tabitha ran outside to the porch of Colony House.
The sight before her broke her heart. She saw someone holding a knife, and Donna rushed over with her jacket. Boyd held the man with the knife back, dragging him away from the area that people had started to crowd around.
She had been so distracted by the chaos that she didn't even notice who was hurt. A raw sob escaped her as she watched Donna apply pressure to Jade's stomach. She ran faster than she ever had before, falling to his side.
"No, no, Jade," she cried, grabbing his hand.
He had been stabbed multiple times in his torso, each wound gushing blood. Jade squeezed her hand with all of the strength he had. She let out another sob, letting her forehead rest across his chest.
"Don't you dare fucking die on me!"
"Sweetheart… sweetheart, I'm sorry," his hand moved to her hair.
"No!" she pressed her hands down hard on his wounds, trying desperately to stop the blood.
"Tabitha-" Donna started.
"Don't."
Tabitha let Donna take over again as she grabbed his face in her hands. She studied everything about him. The way his lips were parted, the way his eyebrows furrowed, the way he stared at her with such love in his eyes. It was like he had already accepted his fate, only focused on comforting her. Which was ironic, because he was the one bleeding out.
"Jade, please don't do this, please," she begged.
"Tabitha, look at me."
His heart broke at the pure terror and sadness in her eyes.
"You have to get your kids out. You have to escape this place, Tabitha. Promise me."
"No, I can't-"
"Tabitha, please."
"No! I can't do this without you, I can't," An agonizing sound tore through her as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. "Jade, please, I can't lose you. I can't go on without you. I love you," she sobbed.
"I know, honey, I know," he said, placing his hand on her back, "I love you too. You have to promise me that you'll keep going. You've worked so hard, you've gotten so, so far, sweetheart."
"I shouldn't have let you out of my sight. It's my fault. If I didn't step away, this wouldn't have happened. I could've protected you," she pressed a kiss to his neck, clinging to his arm for dear life.
"Don't… don't think like that. It's not your fault."
His neck was soaked with tears as she sobbed hysterically. She had never felt this much pain in her life. Not when Thomas died, not when Jim died. She realized at this moment just how much she loved Jade. They came back for hundreds of years, each time getting closer and closer to breaking the cycle, and each time loving each other. This time, they had almost done it. They had the memories; they remembered being Miranda and Christopher. They remembered being married when the sacrifice happened. They remembered having to watch their daughter die in front of them, while there was nothing they could do but cling to each other in terror.
"I love you. I love you so much," she choked out. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize."
She kissed his neck, then his jaw, then his cheek, then his forehead, and lastly, his lips. Tabitha had imagined this many times, how their first kiss would go. She thought about it in the tunnels, and when they got out. She imagined it would be sweet and special. Never could she have imagined it to be like this: her sobbing while she held his dying body in her arms.
"Please don't leave me," she whimpered.
He broke at that, tears rapidly falling from his eyes. He kissed the side of her face as they both sobbed. Jade didn't want to leave her; he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted to protect her from everything here. He wanted to escape with her and wake up next to her every morning. But that couldn't happen. Because now he was bleeding out on the lawn of Colony House.
Donna was still applying pressure to his stomach, and Boyd had joined in as well. It was cramped with three people hovering over him, but he didn't care. He knew he was going to die. He had already lost too much blood. The only thing he cared about was the woman sobbing with her face pressed against his neck.
"Tabitha. Tabitha, baby, look at me," he murmured.
Her eyes were swollen, and tears were still falling as she looked at him.
"Promise me you'll keep going."
The conflict in her eyes hurt more than the stab wounds he had.
"Jade…" she rested her forehead against his. "I don't know how to do this without you," she whispered.
"You have to, honey. You have to be strong, for your kids, for me."
"Please," she begged. She knew that he was dying; there was so much blood. It completely soaked Donna's jacket and Jade's shirt. Donna's hands were covered, along with Boyd's. Tabitha looked down to see that her own arms and clothes were drenched in blood.
"Promise me," he whispered.
"I-" she let out a gut-wrenching sound, one that didn't even sound human. Leaning away from him, she became sick to her stomach. Jade watched helplessly as she threw up. All he could do was hold her hand.
"Jade," she croaked, resting her face against his.
Jade kissed her. He was becoming more lightheaded as he lay there. The kiss was tragic, both of them sobbing, knowing he was about to be gone. She felt his hand slip from her own, and she yelled.
"No! You can't leave me! You can't! We're supposed to get out of here together, we're supposed to escape and spend the rest of our lives together. Jade, you can't die. Please, no," she sobbed against his lips.
"Sweetheart…" he whispered.
"Please."
"Tabitha, I love you. I love you so much. I'm sorry it had to end this way, but it's not your fault."
"I love you," she repeated like a mantra.
Her face was buried in his neck, one hand squeezing his hand, the other gripping his shirt.
"I love you, honey, I'm sorry," he cried, placing his lips against her hair.
She felt as his heart stopped, and his hand and head went limp. A loud sob ripped through her throat as she hugged his body. It felt as though a piece of her had died. Donna and Boyd stepped aside, letting Tabitha have her moment.
"Come back, please, come back," she pressed herself further against him, almost like she was trying to combine her body with his.
She stayed there for half an hour, holding onto him, refusing to believe he was really gone. Eventually, she felt herself being pulled away from him and into someone's arms. She was sobbing again as someone - presumably Donna - held her, rubbing her back.
Tabitha watched as Boyd and Kenny lifted Jade's body into the wheelbarrow and placed a sheet over him. She couldn't accept that he was gone; he couldn't be. Only two hours ago, they were in the bar with the children's bones discussing how to get out of here. And now he was dead.
She knew she had to go on for her kids. And, it was what Jade wanted. But the thought of continuing alone felt like she herself was being stabbed. She wanted to kill whoever took him away from her. They had taken everything from her.
Victor had taken the kids up to his room to get them off her plate, while she headed to town. Her body instinctively led her to the bar. There were only three talismans left: one in Colony House, one in the clinic, and one in the bar, since she and Jade had spent countless nights awake in here.
Tabitha walked to the room in the back that had a bed in it, the room where Jade had been staying. His stuff was still here, like nothing had changed. She took one of his shirts and replaced her own with it, putting on his sweater as well. The clothes still smelled like him. She held the sweater to her face and inhaled his scent.
That night, she fell asleep in his clothes, in his bed, wrapped in his blankets. She cried herself to sleep, wondering what she could've done differently to save him. But none of that mattered now, because he was gone.