Jayden felt weak all over, like he was suddenly paralysed. He could feel Jesse holding his hand and for the life of him he tried to squeeze back, but he just couldn't. "Sorry, Jesse," Jayden mumbled, sure it was all over. He couldn't breathe. "You deserve a better brother."
Then he lay there on the floor, his heart stuttering away and his breathing growing fainter.
He didn't even hear the sirens as they approached, he only seemed to realise he was being manhandled as the EMTs leaned over him. One of them cut his shirt off and he did hear another one exclaim, "Jesus fucking Christ," at the state of his abdomen. You could easily count all of his ribs and his stomach had long ago gone concave. There was hardly anything left of Jayden, as if he had been trying to erase himself from existence entirely.