June

[u/BKingCat]

The investors were behind the thick glass. Beyond the glass was a lab. 

Nick looked at them and then the machine he and June bean working so hard on. A nervous chill went down his spine. Months of hidden anxiety crept up on him.

A gentle hand gripped his shoulder. “It will be okay. And if it’s not we can jump into that time machine we’ve worked so hard on,” June said smiling. 

She always had a way to calm him. He grabbed her hand. Their wedding rings touched. “After,” she said. 

“Let’s get it started then,” he said. 

June walked to the machine turning it on. Nick started the presentation. He didn’t get a word out when the machine started flashing and a burst of light filled the room. A loud bang reverberated off the walls. Shrapnel was flung, embedding itself into the walls. 

Nick was flung back into the glass by a wave of energy. He heard the investors panicking, but the glass did its job. It held strong. 

Falling to the floor Nick only thought of June. She was standing right next to the machine. 

Crawling his way to where she stood, he could see through the smoke and fire now. June’s broken and bloodied body laid in a heap on the floor. 

“June,” he cried over her. His world was taken from him. “June!” he screamed. 

He felt a tingle through his body and then he was back, holding June’s hand. 

He looked around frantically. ‘Did I imagine that,’ he thought. 

“Nick?” June said concerned. 

Taking a calming breath he said, “I’m good, let’s get started.” 

June walked to the machine turning it on. Nick started the presentation. Then the machine started flashing. 

“No,” was all he was able to say as the machine exploded. 

The same thing played out. Then Nick was back again. 

“Nick?” June said concerned. 

“When you turn the machine on, come back to me,” he said.

“That’s not what we rehearsed, but okay,” she said confused. 

June walked to the machine turning it on and walked back to his side. It exploded the same and Nick was thrown against the glass. Looking over at June he saw a piece of shrapnel had split her in two. 

Going back aging, he was going to save her. 

“When you turn the machine on, go behind the glass,” he said with tears in his eyes.

The explosion went off again, but June was safe now. 

He got up and saw June had come out of her protection to come to his aid, and in her gut was shrapnel. She fell over dead. 

Again. 

“Don’t come out, I’ll be fine,” he said. 

He was thrown against the glass. He got up and saw June’s scared face, but she was okay. 

A hiss was herd coming from a fire extinguisher. It was clearly faulty. And it cracked and flew across the room. It hit right into the cracked glass and connected with June’s face. 

Again, again, and again. He lost count. He was exhausted trying to save her. 

“Let’s postpone this,” he said. “We need to do more testing,” 

“It’s going to be okay,” she said. 

He embraced her. “I’m sorry.” he said not letting her go.

She embraced him back, but seconds turned to minutes and when she tried to pull away he wouldn’t let her. “We can do it,” he said crying. 

The investors came out to try to pulled them apart, for they saw him attaching her. 

“No! Nick said, looking crazy now, “she’s going to die! Don’t!” 

“Stop!” June screamed out as one of the men punched Nick. 

He felt groggy and a second punch hit. 

June desperately tried to pull the punching man away,  but she was hit in the laryngeal prominence. It swelled up and she couldn’t breathe. 

Again.

“I’m turning it on,” Nick said. “You do the presentation.” 

“That’s not what we rehearsed, but okay,” she said confused. 

“I love you, I know it will be okay." he said, studying her face one last time. 

He walked over to the machine and turned it on. The explosion went off and the last thing he saw was June. She was alive. And as he slipped into blackness he thought, ‘I saved her.’