"Sama!" I helped her lean against the wall, but she grimaced in pain. She coughed again, and I barely noticed the flecks of blood that appeared on my hoodie as my sister clutched her shoulder. Dark red began to bloom through the leather jacket.

"I'm so glad," she repeated as I hastily peeled it off to reveal the wound underneath. Blood oozed out of a long, diagonal cut that stretched from her shoulder to her chest. Her shirt was caked in red.

Nausea hit me. I was launched into the past, back to the moments after I blacked out. I laid unconscious on the ground as Sama found me surrounded by my assailants. She found me...and then Nox--

Bandages. I needed bandages, something to stop my sister from bleeding to death. I found a wad of clean cloth, and my hands fumbled to unravel it and wrap it around her wound. It soaked through in seconds.

This couldn't be real.

Sama watched me as my hands flapped around uselessly, trying to help her. "Ravin...It's okay. You don't need to do anything."

"Sama, why didn't you tell me?" I shouted. Now I understood how she felt, why she snapped. "You should've told me!"

"There were lots of things I didn't tell you," she murmured, and her eyes started to gloss over. "I thought you didn't need to know how bad the real world was. I didn't want to lose my innocent little brother."

I shook my head. "We need an ambulance," I said, even as I knew it was futile. "I can...I can..." I looked around the otherwise empty store, searching for something, or anyone who could help us. Outside, cars honked and sirens blared, but we may as well be in a different world.

Every thought in my head screamed to do something. Sama saved me; I had to save her. I curled my hands into fists. My body shifted, and I started to get up, but Sama touched my hand.

"Don't be mad," she whispered. I felt another wave of anger take hold of me.

"I'm not mad at you, Sama."

"I know, Ravin. You're mad at the world. But don't blame anyone, okay? When I saw you, all I could think was I didn't want to lose you." Her voice shook, and her hand reached up to clasp mine. I squeezed it tight. "I'm tired of this, Ravin. I'm so tired."

Before I hadn't questioned the things we did to survive. We did what we needed to do, and that was that. But now, sitting with my sister on the floor of her liquor store, I realized how exhausting it was, taking from others just to see another day. How familiar loss has become in our lives. And now, I was about to lose yet another person that I loved.

"I love you." The words came out barely audible, tumbling clumsily off my tongue. I wished I had said it more. "Please don't go."

"Go...? Go where?"

I couldn't answer.

"Let's go home, Ravin. I miss home..."

Sama gave a shuddering breath. Her eyes became unfocused, and her body went slack. Through my blurry vision, it was all I could do to stop her from tilting to the floor.

Home? There was no home for me to go to, now that my sister was gone.

I've been gripping Sama's hand for so long that it hurt. Slowly, I untwined my fingers from hers and sat back, blinking away my tears. I closed my eyes, trying to imagine better times, hear my sister's last words again. All that came to mind was a black square, devoid of warmth.