Whoooosh…
The hum of traffic faded into the distance as Leon adjusted his tie, gripping the steering wheel with a weary hand. The worn leather of his jacket creaked against his scarred forearms. His dark hair, streaked with early silver at the temples, stuck slightly to his damp forehead from a long day on patrol. His black eyes, sharp and calculating even in exhaustion, scanned the streets of New York, reflecting the neon glow of billboards and streetlights.
He was a detective in the NYPD, a man hardened by years of violence and loss. He had walked into alleyways soaked with blood, stared into the eyes of killers, and carried the weight of cases that would never find closure. And yet tonight, all that experience felt distant. Tonight, he only wanted to see her.
'Just one more hour… just get home safely,' he thought, knuckles tightening around the wheel. 'I deserve this. I deserve to see her smile again.'
The dashboard clock glowed: 11:47 PM. Manhattan stretched endlessly around him, a forest of steel and glass, indifferent and unforgiving. Every street smelled of rain-soaked asphalt and exhaust fumes. He breathed it in, letting it ground him, reminding him that the world still moved, even as he felt fragile inside.
The passenger seat held nothing but his shoulder bag, packed with paperwork, a few unfinished case files, and a small gift for her — a scarf she had wanted since autumn. Leon imagined the warmth on her shoulders, the way she would tilt her head and laugh softly.
'Why does it feel like this time is slipping faster than usual?' he wondered, shifting slightly in his seat. His legs ached from chasing a petty thief earlier, and his back was stiff from sitting in the cruiser all night, but the thought of her pushed him forward.
Then, from nowhere, the sound ripped through the night:
THUD! THUD!
A truck, black and monstrous, appeared from the shadows of an alleyway, tires screaming against wet asphalt. Leon slammed on the brakes, heart hammering in his chest.
'No… not here. Not now,' he muttered.
The truck's headlights illuminated his face for a heartbeat — rugged, angular features marred by a faint scar along his right cheek, the sharpness of his jawline softened by exhaustion. His foot froze halfway to the brake pedal, and then instinct gave way to inevitability.
BOOM!
Metal screamed. Glass shattered.
Pain exploded through Leon's chest as the truck collided with his car. The steering wheel twisted in his hands, blood spraying onto the dashboard and windshield. The scarf, the bag, the thought of seeing her — all vanished in an instant.
He coughed, choking on blood and broken air, his vision narrowing to red and gray.
'So… this is it,' he thought, oddly calm amidst the chaos. 'I finally get to see her… and yet… I'll never touch her hand again.'
The seatbelt dug into his shoulder, twisted metal pressed into his legs. His car spun slowly, coming to rest against the curb of a deserted intersection. Rain began to fall, sizzling on hot asphalt, mixing with his blood and the oil slick from his wrecked vehicle.
Leon's fingers twitched, trying to reach the radio, trying to call for help. But his body refused — limbs unresponsive, heart hammering with impossible rhythm. His head lolled to the side, catching a glimpse of the truck vanishing into the night, as if mocking him.
'She doesn't know… she'll never know…' he thought, his vision dimming. 'I… I should've… been there more… for her…'
He tried to replay the moments of their life together — the nights she waited up for him after late patrols, the quiet mornings over coffee, the small notes she left in his locker. Every memory felt magnified, unbearably precious now that he would never experience them again.
'Maybe… maybe I'll see her again. Somewhere. Somewhere else…'
The thought was fleeting, almost absurd. His breath came in shallow gasps, chest burning as life slipped through his fingers. The rain, the blood, the broken glass — it all mixed into one surreal haze.
A faint sound rose above it all:
Drip… drip… drip…
The rainwater running off the cracked windshield. The faint, distant sound of the city, uncaring, alive. And somewhere in that sound, impossibly, he thought he heard her laugh.
'Not real… it can't be…' he whispered, though his lips barely moved. 'I… I'll… I'll find a way…'
And then the world tilted. Pain became everything. Darkness became a blanket.
For a moment, Leon's mind flickered — a strange, unfamiliar sensation as if his consciousness was slipping away from this world and being pulled toward another. Shapes formed behind his eyes, glimpses of landscapes he had never seen, voices he had never heard. A whisper of a life yet to come, a chance to be something else, somewhere else.
'Wait… what is this… where…'
But the thought faded with his last breath.
The last thing he felt was the warmth of her presence, imagined or real, brushing against his skin one final time, a sensation of comfort and loss intertwined.
And then, finally, silence.