Jay starts opening doors.
“Nate!”he yells.“You down here?”
I follow his lead, pulling open one door after another—each scene worse than the last.In one, two people are bent over a table, snorting lines of white powder.In another, a couple tangled together on a mattress, oblivious to the world.
My stomach churns, all of a sudden the air feels too hot, it’s suffocating.
“Nate, please,” I whisper, voice cracking as I open the next door.
Empty.
And then—the last one.
The door creaks open, and my heart stops.
He’s there.
Slumped against the wall beside a narrow bed, head lolling to one side.His arm dangles loosely beside him, a used syringe still stuck in the crook of his elbow.There’s blood on his forearm, smeared where the needle slipped.His lips are tinted blue, his skin pale and clammy under the flickering light.
His chest rises, barely.
For a terrifying moment, I think he’s already gone.
“Oh my God, Nate.”
My voice breaks as I drop to my knees beside him.
“Nate, wake up!”I shake his shoulders.
He doesn’t respond.
His breathing is shallow—ragged, wet-sounding.
His pulse is faint, skipping beats.
My vision tunnels and the world shrinks to the sound of that fragile, uneven breath.
“Oh fuck.”I hear the voice, I recognise it, but I’m too in shock to turn around or respond.
“Here, let me help.”
Before I can make sense of what’s happening, Connor James crouches down beside me, disposing of the needle in Nate’s arm and slinging it over his shoulder, trying to lift him.
“I need you to grab him on the other side, he’s going to be dead weight.”
I do as I’m told, not questioning why he’d even think about helping after everything that happened last summer.For a second, I think I’m imagining him—the arrogant smirk replaced with something I don’t recognize.
Concern.
My voice trembles, my hands shaking.“I think… he’s overdosed.”
Connor’s expression hardens, but not with anger—with focus.
“Come on.Let’s get him to my car.”
I blink at him, stunned.There’s no time for questions right now.Connor moves fast, crouching beside me, and together we try to lift Nate.His body is heavy and limp and my arms strain trying to hold him up.
“Here, I’ve got him,” Jay’s voice cuts through the chaos.
