Klempner
Juliana coughs and her face twists, more blood spilling now from her mouth. "Gotcha, Larry."
I watch as, in a slow exhalation, the air escapes her throat. Her eyes lose their focus and freeze into a sightless stare.
"Juliana?"
She doesn't move, quite still. No lift to her chest. No flutter to her eyelids.
"Juliana?"
She doesn't move again.
I'm quite alone.
No-one knows I'm here.
No-one is coming.
I gaze into the abyss.
*****
The blood pounds at my temples. My breath comes in short snatches. My vision is dark at the edges...
Flattening myself back against the wall, I scrutinize the prone Juliana, hoping that I might be mistaken; that there's a breath of life in her.
I'm only fooling myself. Not even that. I know a corpse when I see one.
Juliana was the only person wh
