The sound of wailing sirens broke through his subconscious, waking him. He sat up, examining his surroundings. He realized he was in the back of an ambulance with two paramedics. Someone was on a stretcher, but there was a cloth over their face. "What happened?" he asked. He couldn't remember anything after Akram...

His eyes fell on the stretcher again. The outline of a body was clearly visible under the sheet. A lump rose in his throat. "Who..."

One of the paramedics moved to his side. "You passed out, right after you put her on the stretcher," the woman said.

"I... put her in here?" He didn't remember that. Whatever had happened at the execution had left a gap in his memory.

"It's 2017," she told him.

"What?"

"You told me to tell you the year when you woke up."

So I'm back. But that means that Amanda is alive! He let out a relieved sigh. Akram had never shot her. That future was gone now. "They arrested Akram, right?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then who's on the stretcher?"

The paramedic frowned. "You don't remember?"

"No..." The expression on her face, the pity he saw there, it scared him. She was silent, chewing on her lower lip. The other paramedic watched the two of them, the same expression of pity on his face.

Alex stood. If they weren't going to tell him anything, he would find out for himself. He had just touched the corner of the sheet when the second paramedic's hand gripped his shoulder. "You might not want to do that, son," he suggested. "Your reaction last time was a bit violent. We almost had to put you under for everyone's safety, but you passed out before we got the chance."

Alex yanked the sheet off anyway. It was her. It was Amanda. Her face was pale, and blood soaked her shirt. Her eyes were closed, and her expression was peaceful. "W...what happened?" he asked. His teeth ground together. "How did she die? She was..." She was supposed to be okay. She was supposed to live.

"She was in critical condition when you brought her. Are you sure you don't remember?" the male paramedic asked, stepping away from Alex.

"I can't remember it. I never..." he stopped. Explaining it to them would just confuse them more. They might think he was injured some how, or just plain crazy. "There has to be a way to bring her back."

"I'm sorry, but we can't do anything. She's been dead for at least a minute, maybe two."

Tears threatened to spill down his cheeks, but Alex pushed them back and slipped his hand into Amanda's. "Come back to me. Please," he whispered.

***

At first, Amanda thought she was dead. Akram had shot her. It was over. But if that was the case, then why did her chest ache? She tried to rub it, but she couldn't feel her body. All she felt was the dull ache, slowly and surely encompassing the area where she should have existed. Am I just a soul now, left to suffer? Maybe this was death. Maybe she was going to suffer for eternity, the pain getting stronger and stronger, until she could no longer think rationally.

She realized, then, that she wasn't breathing. The lack of oxygen made the pain worse, and her head began to pound. No, I can't be dead. Dead people don't need oxygen. But when she tried to breath, she couldn't. It reminded her of the dream she'd had- of being buried alive. Did Akram bury me without making sure I was dead?

Something else's warm hand slipped into her's, gripping it tightly. Come back to me. Please. Alex. Is he begging me to live? Something- a memory, perhaps, came to the front of her mind.

"I'll come back. I promise." Her words. Her promise. An oath she couldn't break. And just like that, she was thrown back into her body. Air filled her lungs and she opened her eyes.

***

Amanda stirred, and her hand tightened around his. Her chest rose and fell, and her eyes opened. Relief washed over Alex. She's alive. Akram didn't kill her.

"It hurts," she moaned.

"That just means you're alive," Alex told her.

She smiled and her eyes closed again. "We had an interesting couple of months," she said.

She's talking like she won't be here anymore. "You can't die. Promise me."

"Wasn't planning on it," she said. "Anyway, I have the easy job. I just have to keep breathing."

The paramedics both pulled him back before he could reply to that. They both looked pale, but that didn't surprise Alex. They did just see someone come back from the dead.

"She's still in critical condition. She might be alive now, but that could change," the woman explained, giving him an apologetic glance. The ambulance stopped and moments later, the doors were thrown open.

Alex stepped out into the parking lot of the hospital and moved out of the way. Doctors and nurses rushed Amanda into the hospital. He stayed in the parking lot, unsure of what to do. The female paramedic touched his shoulder, startling him. "Does her family know?" she asked. "If she doesn't make it, they should be here."

"I'll let them know," he promised, glad she'd given him something to do. She nodded and hurried into the emergency room