My eyes meet Sloane's as the panic creeps up my spine.
CHAPTER TWENTY
GRAY
FROST HUFFSat me as I close the door to her stall. I let her and Felix and a couple of other horses into the run-in for a few hours and they stood in the sun while they munched on hay. Felix wasn’t happy either, but I need to make room for the stallion and some other mares we are boarding.
Her door latches closed, and I think I hear someone scream my name, there is an edge of panic to it and I walk to the stable door. Squinting my eyes to look toward the house, I see Hallie's long body sliding on the ice as she tries to come down the small incline from the house to the barn.
"Gray!"
Frozen in place for a second, every muscle in my body tenses up as a wave of Déjà vu washes over me. The memory of Breanna running down the hill yelling my name sends me back to the day Sarah died. I swing my head to look at Dad, heheard her as well and is now standing beside me with his eyebrows pulled together. We both leave the stable to walk towards Hallie.
Dad and I quickly close the distance between us. Hallie is slipping and sliding on the ice, saying my name over and over. She looks like she rushed from the house without a coat or gloves, her bare hands are sliding over the ice each time she loses her balance and pushes herself back up and I know it's gotta sting.
I get to her first and use my ice grippers to help her stand and hold her arms. "Hallie, what happened?"
Her face is white as a sheet, and she's nearly hyperventilating. "Oh god, I think I killed her." Her voice is a whispered whimper, and terror has her eyes blown wide and tears on her cheeks.
Dad and I bark at the same time, "What!?"
Panic twists my gut as I think of Sloane in the house and then I think of my brother. If anything happens to Sloane and the baby, I don't think I'll ever see my brother again, he'll leave and never come back.
It would break him.
He's no stranger to leaving home and not seeing family for years, the incident with Marley forced that on him just as he became a man. But now, he'll sink himself into his work and never lift his head.
I would never forgive myself if something happened to them on my watch.
Are we cursed? The thought whispers across my mind as I think of mom and Sarah.
Handing Hallie off to Dad, I make my way up the incline as fast as I can.
I hear dad asking Hallie for details as I move farther away from them, my breaths are puffing in clouds in front of me with each step. The screen door is closed, but the back door iswide open. In her hurry to get to us, Hallie didn't close the door.
I stomp through the mudroom, only stopping for a few seconds to pull the grippers off my boots and race into the kitchen. The sight in front of me has my heart skipping beats.
I'm not sure what I expected to see when I got in the house, but it sure wasn't Elly lying on the floor grasping her throat, her face is red and she's gasping for breath.
Sloane is on her knees next to her, arms wrapped around Elly's shoulders, tears streaming down her face. "I don't know what to do, she's allergic to the sesame oil," she cries out.
Even with my heart racing against my ribs, I bite down the panic and step around them to Elly's other side and kneel next to her. Tears are streaming down her temples and when her eyes meet mine, my heart breaks for her as I see terror looking back at me. Slipping my arms under her, I grab her bridal style and pull her against me.
Meeting Sloane's eyes, I try to stay calm. "Go to my bathroom and get the first aid kit under the sink. I keep an EpiPen in there just in case Lainey Rai ever needs it."
Her head bobs frantically as she pushes up onto her feet and rushes from the room. I lift Elly with me as I stand and rush to the family room, her body is so small and her breaths are coming fast and shallow, knotting my stomach in fear. Laying her on the big leather couch, I kneel by her side, close to her head, and take her hand to hold against my chest as I lean over her to offer some comfort.
"Look at me, frostbite." I softly order, my eyes locked on hers, my face just inches away. Her eyes move in my direction, fear looks back at me, all I want to do is make that fear go away and replace it with her gorgeous smile. "I have a shot, you're gonna be fine." Her head bobs fast a few times and her smaller fingers squeeze my hand.
She lifts her other hand over her chest, silently asking meto hold it, so I hook my thumb with hers to clasp her hand with my other hand. Her eyes are holding mine captive as her cool fingers dig into my skin, her chest rising and falling quickly with each breath she battles to get through her swollen airway.
“Hey.” I softly say and force my features to stay neutral. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Okay?” If just holding her hand is giving her the comfort she needs, then nothing could pull me away from her right now.
She nods again, but the movement is not as jerky.
Making sure my poker face is in place, I don't want her to see just how scared I am. I offer her the same smile I would offer any of the women in my life to lend them any strength I can.
The shot Sloane is getting from my first-aid kit was bought just in case it's ever needed, so I know that once we get it in her system, she'll be fine. What's confusing, and just as frustrating, is just how tight fear is squeezing my chest, making it hard for me to get my own air. I’m genuinely afraid I might lose her.
