SIXTEEN: CORBIN
“Someone help me!”
Aline’s shrill voice echoed up the staircase. I tossed down the book I’d been reading, threw open the door to my bedroom, and fled down the hall.
What now? Is it the fae?
Aline’s yells came from the kitchen. I yanked open the secret passage and vaulted down the staircase in one leap. My naked torso slammed against the wall at the bottom. I shoved the secret door open and rushed into the room. The sight that greeted me turned my blood cold.
No.
Aline knelt in the middle of the kitchen floor, surrounded by squished blueberries and broken ceramics. Rowan slumped against the counter, blood gushing down his face. His eyes glassy, his body unmoving.
Rowan.
“He’s not breathing!” Aline wailed, cupping his cheek.
I sprinted across the kitchen. Sharp sherds dug into the pads of my feet, but I didn’t slow down. I grabbed Rowan and laid him down on his back. His legs and arms stuck straight out. I tippedhis head back to open his airway and checked for breath. Aline was right. Rowan had stopped breathing.
“Call an ambulance,” I called out as I checked his pulse. He had one, which was a good sign, but it was faint and thready. With Rowan’s intense anxiety and the medication he was in, a fall like this could throw his body into shutdown. I needed to try and get more blood and oxygen around his body.
I moved to his chest, placing the heel of my hand on the centre of his chest. With my other hand on top, I interlocked my fingers the way my mother had taught me when the twins were born. With my shoulders over Rowan’s chest, I pushed down, feeling his sternum rock beneath me. I counted out the beats in my head.One, two, three, four, five...
After thirty compressions, I tipped Rowan’s head back again, pinching his nose and blowing precious air into his lungs.One, two... c’mon Rowan...
He didn’t respond. His glassy eyes stared back at me, cold and lifeless.
My whole chest collapsed. Air leaked from the hole where my heart had been.Don’t think about it. Don’t panic. You have to focus for Rowan.
Rowan would have found it funny that I was the one counting.
No, don’t think in the past tense. Rowan is not going to die. Rowan is not Keegan. Rowan has a future.
“You hear that, Rowan?” I muttered as I compressed his chest again. “You’re not dying on me, you bastard.”
After another thirty, I tipped his head back, pinched his nostrils, and breathed into his mouth. A mouth that only hours before I’d kissed goodnight. Lips that had pressed against mine with such intensity and now hung slack against his teeth.
One…two…
Rowan coughed. My heart leapt. I lifted him up as his entire body convulsed, kicking sherds across the room. I clung to him as he sucked in breath after glorious breath, resting my head in his shoulder, my lips against his neck.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” I whispered against his skin.
For the first time since I’d seen him lying there, I became aware we weren’t alone. “God, Rowan.” Maeve wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his dreadlocks. I embraced them both, my body trembling with the knowledge of just how close I’d come to losing him. His fingers tightened around my bicep, then dropped.
“Ambulance?” I asked. Now that Rowan was okay, I didn’t want them showing up and asking questions.
Aline shook her head. “I don’t know how to work the…mobile phone thingie. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. What happened?” I glared at Aline.
“I don’t know! We were just talking, and he was leaning forward. I thought he was just really interested, but then he seemed to be holding himself upright. Next thing I know his head bounced off the counter and he was on the floor and he wasn’t breathing.”
“Even if the fall knocked him out, he shouldn’t have stopped breathing! His heartbeat shouldn’t have been so weak.”
“He was having trouble breathing right before he fell.” Aline glanced at her arm, which was stained blue from berry juice. “Maybe he had an allergic reaction?”
“He’s not allergic to anything except stress. My guess is you frightened him into a panic attack and he fainted before he hit the counter. Now he’s probably got a concussion. What were you talking about?” I demanded.
