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I tried my best to shove all of my emotions away while still keeping our end of the bond open so that Artie could feel where I was at any given moment, but as we settled into the routine I found my mind wandering again.
I had almost too much time to think last night about everything I’d learned. All of the hurt from my childhood reared its ugly head as I realized that the man who had ruined it was dying in hospice somewhere and he had no clue how hurt I still was.
How I still struggled to be a barely decent adult that was still learning how to even be in a relationship because I watched him and my mam’s tumultuous marriage for too many of my formative years.
And now he was just going to die? Without me ever seeing him and telling him so?
Rage seeped out of me as Adele’s voice filled my ears.
Artie gave the bond a mental tug, reminding me of where I was.
The music was starting to swell and our final move was coming and my final thought as I reached for Artie was wondering just what the hell I was going to do about the situation.
I didn’t realize I wasn’t in the correct position to catch Artie’s hand until our fingers brushed just past one another.
What was supposed to be a tandem spin using each other’s momentum was now a full tilt fall backward, Artie’s blue eyes widening as we stared at each other for a slowed breath before we fell and everything went black.
When I finally came to, my ears were ringing and someone was holding me in their arms and shaking me.
“Ciara!” a familiar voice called from what felt like far, far away. “Mo ròs!”
Then everything seemed to whoosh back to me all at once and my eyes shot open to find Leith hovering over me, his green eyes wide with fear.
“Artie.” Was the first word out of my mouth as I flipped out of his arms and scrambled across the ice to where my omega was surrounded by people shouting things back and forth.
A paramedic tried to stop me but I dodged past him to where Enzo was hovering next to Artie’s lifeless body.
“No,” I gasped, reaching for him only for my hands to be slapped away by Enzo’s.
Hurt welled out of me when I looked into his eyes to find not only worry, but blame. I could see it on his face and I could feel it lashing out at me from his end of the bond. My mouth went bone-dry as we stared at each other before Enzo finally said, “Don’t touch him, we can’t move him until the paramedics are ready.”
Blood welled just underneath Artie’s head, sending my mind racing to all of the warnings we’d been given by his doctor.
Head injuries had been on the top of the doctor’s list of things to avoid and I’d gone and done exactly that.
What had I been thinking? I should never have gotten onto the ice with him today and it was all my fault.
“Ma’am, we’re going to need to check you out too, you’ve got a nasty cut on your head that might need stitches,” a paramedic said as the rest descended on Artie, putting a neck brace on him as they prepared to put him onto a stretcher.
“I don’t care about that,” I insisted as their fingers began to prod at the cut on my temple and I moved to push their hands away.
“Well, I care,” Leith said, grabbing my wrist to stop me from doing so. He glanced over at Enzo who looked as if the wind had been knocked out of him. “You go in the ambulance with Artie, we’ll follow behind.”
Enzo offered us one stone-faced nod before following the paramedics off of the ice.
“I don’t think she’ll need stitches but I do want her to get checked out as soon as you make it to the hospital,” the paramedic finally told Leith who just nodded.
“I did this.” My words shook as I finally let him help me onto wobbly feet, the paramedic leading the way off of the ice. “This is all my fault.”
“It is not your fault, Ciara,” Leith told me seriously, his grip on my shoulder tightening as we passed Aurelia who looked at me with tear-stained cheeks.
I wanted to hug her. I wanted to scream at her.
Instead, I just turned away and let Leith gently guide me out of the main doors.
“Artie knew and we all knew exactly what the risks were when we let you two get on that ice.”
I shook my head, wincing when it tugged at the butterfly bandage that the paramedic had put on me. “I got distracted. You had to have felt it on the bond. I got distracted and didn’t get into position this time.”
