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THE GUY IGNORES me. Eva cringes as his lips brush her ear. “Put the cash in my pockets.”
She quickly follows his demand, her eyes flicking between the register and me. I take a step forward, but he notices the action. Eva screams with a high-pitch that hurts my ears. Oh, god. He cut her. Blood is pouring from her neck like a damn waterfall.
The guy freaks, staring at her for a long moment. “Sor...sorry,” he stutters, grabbing the rest of the cash as she crumbles to the floor. He runs around to the kitchen and I run to jump over the counter to Eva. I hear the bell as he leaves.
“You're okay,” I lie, glancing around, but not seeing any napkins within reach. I pull off my shirt, thankful for my undershirt, and pull away her hands. Those perfect bright blue eyes are already glazed as the tears stream down her face. I press my shirt to her neck, hoping it's not as bad as it looks. Eva clamps her hands around my wrist, her eyelids fluttering. “Stay with me, okay?”
“Not good with blood,” she whispers.
Shit. Is she struggling to stay conscious because of that or the actual wound? I grab the phone from next to the register and dial 911. Eva leans forward, her hands falling from my wrist as she rests her forehead against my chest.
My heart is racing with panic. I alternate talking to the operator and trying to keep Eva awake. She'll be fine. She has to be. It takes ten minutes before I can faintly hear sirens.
“Here they come,” I tell her. “You're going to be fine. Just stay with me. I love you, Eva. You're going to be okay.” When she doesn't respond, not even a 'mhm', my panic rises. “Eva?” I carefully tilt her away from me, my heart spasming out when I see her eyes closed. She's slack against my hold. “Eva, come on. Open your eyes,” I beg. Fear pushes out my own tears, overwhelming me. “Eva, Eva, Eva,” I repeat. A shaking on my shoulder snaps me out of it. Two paramedics are waiting for me to move out of the way. Reluctantly, I do. “Is she going to be okay?”
One checks her vitals as the other pulls away my shirt to look at the cut.
“Her pulse is strong,” the man says.
“The laceration isn't too bad. Long, but it didn't hit an artery,” the woman replies to me. “We'll stop the bleeding and she'll most likely receive stitches at the hospital. She'll be okay. She probably passed out from being lightheaded with the loss of blood.”
“She'll faint at the sight of it too,” I tell them for no other reason than to say something.
They load her up on the stretcher. The police have arrived as well and they want to ask me questions.
“Can't you send someone to the hospital? I can't let her go alone.”
“She won't be alone,” the officer replies in a monotone.
“She'll freak the hell out if I'm not there! I'm not staying here.” Before he can say anything else
, I jog to catch up with the paramedics as they place her in the back of the ambulance. I take a seat and reach for her hand. We pull onto the road when Eva opens her eyes.
“How are you feeling, dear?” the lady asks her. “We're on the way to the hospital and you're going to be just fine.”
“Emerson?” she breathes, her voice sounding weak and breaking my heart.
“I'm right here.” I squeeze her hand and lean forward, so she can see me.
“Thanks for surprising me,” she whispers. Eva glances down at my undershirt, frowning when she sees the blood.
“Don't look or you'll pass out on me again. You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry. Too much blood.” I give her a little smile and she turns worried. “How bad is it?”
Her eyes move to the paramedic as she answers her, “Nothing a lot of stitches can't fix. It wasn't a clean cut, it's a bit jagged, but you'll be fine.”
When we arrive at the hospital, Eva is seen immediately. An officer hovers outside her door. The doctor lets him in for a few minutes before he's going to stitch her up. Eva slowly recounts what happened, how the guy had been in there before, and Barry's information. It makes it worse that this guy has been around her before. My stomach rolls as I remember her telling me about him while being thankful Glen seemed to make him leave before by showing up. After we also give him our info, he leaves.
“Will you call Glen, my parents, and Catherine?”
“You don't want me to wait until after you're stitches are done?”
“I'll be okay. Come back when you're done.” She gives me a small smile of reassurance.
“Okay.” I kiss her softly and take her phone, which was in her back pocket.
Everyone freaks out as I call to inform them of what happened. Can't say I blame them. I'm still freaked out. I had to reassure her parents many times that she was fine and we would still be coming tomorrow because she's fine. Glen insists on coming to the hospital. I don't object since I will need a ride to my truck for us to get home. He's bringing his girlfriend, so she can drive Eva's car to our apartment. Catherine's upset, too. She left earlier today to head home for Thanksgiving. She wants to see Eva, check on her herself, but she's already home. I had to promise Eva would call her later.
