I sway slightly, my balance slipping just enough to send a sharp spike of alarm through me, and I straighten instinctively, forcing my spine rigid, forcing my body to hold.
Not here.
Not now.
Don’t make this worse.
I press my nails into my palm, grounding myself in the sting, in something real, something present, but it isn’t enough.
Nothing is enough.
The room narrows further, the edges of my vision darkening until it feels like I’m looking through a tunnel, like everything is closing in, collapsing inward, and I can’t…
I can’t.
My stomach drops.
My knees weaken.
I try to lock them, to hold myself upright, to stay standing, because if I fall apart now, if I become another problem, another distraction, then I am only adding to the chaos already building around us.
But my body betrays me.
The cup slips from my fingers.
It hits the floor.
The sound is distant.
Muted.
My vision flickers.
Sam’s eyes meet mine.
He sees it.
He sees me.
He’s already moving, already launching himself out of his seat, my name somewhere on the edge of my hearing as everything finally gives way.
The last thing I feel is the floor rushing up to meet me.
The last thing I see is him reaching for me.
Then…
Nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Trey
One More Light – Linkin Park
Idon’t even remember crossing the room.
One second she’s there, swaying on her feet, her eyes unfocused, her skin draining of color right in front of me, and the next she’s falling, her body folding in on itself as the cup slips from her hand and shatters somewhere in the distance, and all I can think—all I can feel—is the same cold, suffocating terror that once ripped my life apart.
