Beverly.

The darkness swallowed me whole. I felt my body shutting down, my systems failing one by one like lights going out in a building. There was no pain anymore, just a heavy numbness that spread from my chest outward. This was dying. My heart had stopped and I was slipping away into nothing.

Then I heard it. Bruce's voice, he was screaming my name. "Beverly! No, no, no! Beverly, come back!" The sound cut through the darkness like a blade, sharp and desperate. Other voices joined his but ...