All Aboard

“You don’t have to do that.”

He hesitated, hand mid-gesture. “What?”

“That.”

“But--”

“Mac, I love you. You don’t have to prove anything to me.” My hand reached for his. We pulled close together, away from the other couples on the platform.

“I want to.”

“You don’t--”

“I want to.”

I sighed. “Mac, really. It’s not forever.”

“But Kelly…” his voice trailed off. I noticed his hand lingering near his belt. Near the knife.

The train whistled in the distance. “Mac.” My eyes ran over those around us, none of them focusing on our conversation.

“What?”

“Please. Please.”

“If you do love me, you’ll let me show you.” His eyes grew wide. “You’ll let me show you the only way I know how.”

I released his hand. “Have it your way.”

Mac pulled out the glinting blade.

I stepped closer.

“Undo my buttons.”

I didn’t argue.

“From the first time--”

One button. A collarbone.

“--I ever saw you--”

One more button. The heave of a chest.

“--I knew--”

Muscles. Skin. Heat.

He raised the knife. “I wanted to give you the most precious thing in my life.”

I flinched when the knife plunged in. He didn’t. Not even sawing through bone. Not even when he exposed the most vital part of himself to me.

“Take my heart,” he gasped. “It’s all I have to give.”

I watched it, blurbing blood weakly. Mac sank to his knees. The train’s brakes squealed against the tracks.

“Mac--”

“Take it.” Now we attracted attention. Sad looks from some, sympathetic from others.

I reached into the warm wet space of his chest. My hand slid past a lung, grasping its prize.

“Mac, I love you.”

He didn’t hear me. He was gone. I took the heart anyway. Slippery and bloody in my hands. Still warm, the last warmth I felt from Mac. The damn fool.

The door of one car opened. A man in uniform stepped out, calling to those who remained, “All aboard!”