My eyes landed on Rina again. She wasn’t moving…
Why the fuck wasn’t she moving?
I made to go to her, heart in my clogged throat, but Taron grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Wait.”
I tried to jerk him off, but his grip on me tightened.
“Myles.”
I glared at him. “Let mego.”
His expression was crestfallen as he held my face between his hands. “Let them do their job,” he said softly. “She’ll befine.”
My jaw tingled, and my eyes stung. “It’s–”
“No,” he cut me off. “It’snotyour fault. I know what you’re thinking; I know what’s got you this rattled, but no, Myles,noneof this is your fault.”
I was shaking again. Sweating, too. “I cracked that stupid joke, and she got upset wi–”
“Don’t.” Taron’s jaw hardened. “Don’t do that right now, because you and I both know it won’t help – not one bit. Carina will be just fine, and then, none of this will matter.” He touched his forehead to mine. “I love you, and I want you to keep your wits about you today. Tell me you can do that.”
I licked my dry lips as I nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Good,” came Greg’s voice, and when I looked at him, he slid the jewelry box into my hoodie pocket before giving me a faint smile.
Paul placed a hand on my shoulder in silent support.
“She’s lost consciousness; gone into shock,” one of the paramedics announced. “We need to get her toMedASAP.”
The four of us turned to Rina.
She wasn’tmoving…
“We have a steady pulse, don’t worry,” the other paramedic said to me when I ran towards Rina. The bookshelf had been taken off her, thank God, but her ankle…
I sucked in a breath. They’d wrapped it in some sort of a cast, but still, it looked crooked and…broken.
I took half a step back when the rescue team helped the paramedics in getting Rina on a stretcher, and they then began carrying her out of the room and down the stairs.
Her eyes were closed, but she was breathing.
Thankfuckshe was breathing.
“Hey.” Taron tapped my back. “You go in with Carina. I’ll call Miguel and the others.”
I hadn’t even remotely thought about Miguel, or any of Rina’s friends, for that matter.
I swallowed and nodded to my brother. “Thanks, man.”
“Go,” he said.
With another nod at him, Paul, and Greg, I ran out and followed the emergency team to the ambulance.
47. His Voice
White lights – they were so blinding that I just couldn’t open my eyes, even though I wanted to.
I inhaled, and a sharp smell of something I couldn’t place, burned my nostrils.
