I nodded and kept moving. "I'm awake," I said. "I am. I'm awake."

And I would stay awake until I could see Eddie. There was nothing in this world that would keep me from seeing him again and I didn't want to believe I might die from my wounds, not because I was afraid of death, but because I knew what it would do to Eddie. Even if we all woke up in Darrow all over again, just like Richie had after dying in Regan's world, I didn't think Eddie would be able to take it.

I couldn't do that to him. It wasn't going to happen.