"Yeah, he's catching the first flight back and managed to convince his dad to stay away for now after I told him what happened," Logan says.
The basement, I’m going to be put in the basement for a long time and they won’t care that I could be pregnant, I just know it.
Oh god, the baby, my baby.
My breaths turn shallow, panic setting in.
She could have killed my baby.
Doc growls, “Fuck,” as I shake with worry and pain for the possible unborn child.
“Buttercup, breathe,” Logan says as warm hands cup my cheek but all I see is my mother’s dead body and breathing gets harder.
I’ve ruined my child. I hurt Ais by taking her to the toy shop.
A mistake. I’m always making mistakes.
Oh god, I keep messing up.
“Jas!” Logan snaps, but everything goes dark as my mother's lifeless eyes are the last thing I see before I pass out.
Chapter 28
Tank – A Week Later
I rub my mouth with the palm of my hand as I watch Jas sit numbly next to Ais, who is coloring. It isn’t easy for Ais, who’s struggling with a big pink cast on her right arm but the girl is persistent and even now her little tongue is poking out as she tries to concentrate. Jas, meanwhile, just stares ahead, lost in her own world, though she never strays far from our daughter.
It’s been a week, and she hasn’t said a word since her panic attack.
I’m terrified I’m losing her—she spends every moment with Aisling, even staying in her room at the farmhouse, and keeping close by here at the club or garage, as if she’s memorizing our daughter before she leaves.
I’m at a loss on what to do.
How do I help her through the fact that she beat her own mother to death to save our daughter?
The answer is, I can’t, I can only be there for her and keep her from falling apart, but I fucking feel like I’m failing despite the fact that I’ve taken a sabbatical from work while still helping Dirty at the garage.
I’ve always ensured Aisling and Jas are with me, scared my girl is going to leave, to run, but I still feel like a fucking failure.
She’s a shell of herself.
“Look, Mama,” Aisling cheers, showing her mother a picture of a ballerina, or at least that is what I think it is anyhow, but Jas barely reacts, and Ais frowns with confusion, just like she has every time she tries to get her mother’s attention, and I know I need to pull in the big guns.
I shove off the door frame, chatter from the common room echoing behind me, and I give a nod to Vincent, who turns towards Doc's office just as Ais whispers, “I love you, Mama,” and I look in time to see her cupping Jasmine's cheek and fuck, even my eyes water at the dead look in my girl's eyes.
“Tank,” Vincent whispers from beside me, and I take my eyes off my girls and look his way and take the box off his hands. “Do you think this will work?” he asks, and I shrug.
“I don’t know,” I admit, “but we have to try something.” I tilt my head to the common room and command, “Go sit with her brother and father until the signal.”
He nods and heads that way, and I look back at my girls.
Ais is back to coloring while Jas continues to stare ahead, and I take a deep breath, really hoping this will work.
Brady and Terry are both aware of what has happened, both shocked, saddened, and very fucking worried about Jasmine, which is why they are waiting for my cue.
I’ve kept them updated throughout the week, giving her time to come to terms with the events, but unfortunately, she hasn’t come out of her shell, and I’m out of ideas.
I won’t lose my girl again. I refuse.
