She doesn’t move, and her gear is too thick for me to tell if she’s breathing or not. I withdraw my hand and clasp it close to my chest. My hands have never trembled so much in my entire life.
“Emery,” I say louder. Still nothing.
The clouds darken and the world seems to fall into itself as my breaths grow labored. A dizzy spell falls over me as hysteria settles in, and my lips tingle with numbness.What is this feeling? I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never been this distraught over anything.
I hate it.
Both of my hands fly to my head, and I tear off my helmet and mask, tossing them to my side. I can’t fucking breathe. I grip my hair and bite back tears. Shaking my head, I shout, “Get a fucking grip.” My fist connects to my head several times as I try to pound sense back into myself.
My jaw quivers as I force myself to scoot closer to her, wrapping my arms around her body and pulling her up against my chest. A small breath escapes her lips and curls in the freezing air.
The very second I hear that breath, every part of my soul shatters.
I let my head drop against hers gently and murmur, “I thought I fucking lost you.” My voice is fragile.
She lets out a light whimper and opens her eyes slowly. Chills run through my body, and I find myself both mesmerized and weak to the bone by her gaze alone. I couldn’t move right now if the world depended on it.
“Cameron?” Her voice is so quiet I almost don’t hear her.
“Who else?” I choke on the words, squeezing her tighter.
A small smile forms on her lips, a smudge of blood at the corner of her mouth. “I thought you hated me.”
I stare at her, bewildered for a moment that she can even attempt a joke at a time like this, then I laugh as relief floods through me. She chuckles too and grips her stomach while grimacing.
“Ow.”
Concern shifts in my chest. “Can you stand? Where does it hurt?” I let her stand in her own time. Her jaw flexes and alludes that she’s in pain. The thought of her hurting makes me feel sick. I want to take it all away from her.
She stands as straight as she can and tries taking a step forward. Her leg gives out, and before she can fall I catch her hips and offer a frail smile that I hope doesn’t show how worried I am.
“I’m okay,” Emery tries to convince me, but she’s the world’s worst liar. Her smile is always too meek when she lies.
I sit back on my haunches and take her in, cataloging all the injuries she’s sustained. Her arm is hanging lower than she usually carries it, so her shoulder might be dislocated. Her face is scraped up pretty bad, but her legs seem to have the most damage. The calf that was stabbed is still bleeding profusely, but I’m relieved that it was the knife wound that bled so much and not her precious head from the fall.
My lips flatten as I quickly bring out the med kit and start wrapping her lower leg.
“Cam… Your eye and nose are bleeding.” Her soft voice brings me a thread of comfort. Only she would care about someone like me. Even after I was cruel to her. Why does she care about me? Why does she continue to be kind to me when I don’t deserve it?
I don’t want her affection, because it means she’ll be in danger constantly, but I’m not sure I could bear losing it now either.
I was worried that she was getting too close to my heart, but now I’m certain of it.
28
EMERY
Cameron triesto keep wrapping my leg and ignores my concern for him, but I set my hands on his shoulders.
“Cameron. Look at me.” My frustration bubbles through my words.
He pauses and lets his hands fall to his lap, furrowing his brows. “I don’t care where I’m bleeding, Em.” His eyes finally meet mine, and every fiber of my being dips into the depths of his soul. Blood flows from his scarred eye as if he’s crying. I bring my hand to his cheek and brush my thumb through the stream of red. He leans into my hand and shuts his eyes. “I only care about where you’re hurt… Are you alright?” he murmurs into my palm, pressing a soft kiss there.
He’s already stolen my life, now I fear he’s stolen my heart as well.
I lower myself to my knees and stare up into those dreary sage eyes I’ve come to yearn for. I try to lighten the mood. “I thought you said you were incapable of ca—” He leans forward and kisses the words from my mouth. Every thought I have melts into his soft embrace.
“Not a word of that.” He grins over my lips.
