I could do this. I’d helped my grandparents countless times. In and out of bed, in and out of the shower, the car, the couch.
He was just…
A flying, invincible, super-fast, super-strong being that was breathing like he’d had half the bones in his body broken.
Was that possible?No. No way.
The Defender said nothing, and I took it as acceptance.
Please, Jesus, don’t let me snap my spine in half.
“Ready? On three. One, two, three!”
He hissed long and low, so painfully that part of me expected him to faint, and I think I might have peed myself a little bit as his weight settled. I tried to stand, but the being leaned into me, and I damn near collapsed.
I huffed and I puffed, and if my house had been made of sticks, it would’ve gotten blown down from the strain he put on me, becauseoh shitttttt.
What the hell were his bones made of? Concrete? I groaned, my knees shaking, and chances were, I was going to end up with a bulging disc in my spine, but too bad.
I swore he leaned into me even more as his loose hand slapped the armrest wildly, giving me most of his five-hundred-pound weight—at least that’s what it felt like. I strained. I huffed and puffed some more. My knees shook and sweat popped up on my back and under my arms instantly, but the tall man who I was confident now couldn’t stand, moved his feet just enough to tell me he was trying to turn. He was trying to get into the wheelchair.
And that’s when I recognized that my knees weren’t the only things wobbling. His whole body was. His lungs rattled, and I wanted to peek at his face to make sure it wasn’t turning blue, but even that was too much trouble.
We moved together, turning in place little by little. Just as we were barely shifting away from the chair, one of his knees buckled completely, and I knew. I knew he was going down, so I did the only thing I could think of.
I pushed his ass. Or the side of it.
It felt like all muscle too, but that was beside the point.
I shoved him toward the wheelchair just as he started to fall, and it was honestly a miracle that he moved that big frame enough to land butt first onto it. I dropped to my knees at the same time I heard him grunt.
“Oh fuck me,” I panted, tucking my chin down to catch my breath. I was never going to be able to move again. Seriously, how much did heweigh?
He moaned at the same time the wheelchair groaned. He had boulders in his pockets. He had to. Lifting my head, I watched him tilt his head back, his arms going wide over the sides of the chair like he was absolutely exhausted. That terrible wheezing sound was back in his chest.
Waddling over on my knees, I stopped at his feet as I struggled to catch my breath.
I risked a glance up at the sky again and squinted. Then I squinted some more. Had I seen something? A glimmer of… something?
Oh hell no.
We needed to get inside. Now. A strong wind could probably lift the trailer, but it felt safer than staying out here in the fucking open.
I’d just been joking earlier when I thoughtThings Going Wrongwas the story of my life.
I was never going to joke about that shit again.
Struggling back up to standing, I stumbled around the side to grip the handles just as The Defender dropped his head forward to hang loosely. As fast as I could, I turned and pushed the wheelchair forward. I was pretty much bent at the waist, pushing with every single ounce of my strength, heading for the ramp that was fortunately right there. When I was close enough, I started running toward it to build up momentum.
It only barely worked, and my hamstrings were on fire as we did the turns and made it to the door. It only took a second to punch in the code. Then I huffed even more to push him through the doorway and into the kitchen, grateful I hadn’t set the dead bolt there. I’d beat myself up later for forgetting, for being lazy. Setting the wheelchair against the wall right beside the door, I kicked it closed harder than I needed to. I flipped the lock, even though I realized that wouldn’t do shit against someone like him.
I wasn’t going to worry about that. Not yet. I was pretty sure I hadn’t seen anything. Definitely not a pale purple twinkle that had to be a star.
Running into the living room, I grabbed a throw pillow and then went back into the kitchen, tucking it in behind his head to support it a little.
Finally, I dropped back to my knees, back to struggling to catch my breath. I’d thought I was in better shape than this.Then again, when the hell had I ever trained to push someone this heavy around?
Never, that’s when.
