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Ryan's voice behind her makes her jump so hard I swear I heard her teeth rattle. The scream that echoes in the hall makes Ry stop dead in his tracks.
"Please, let me go. I'll never tell anyone about this. I swear!" Tears are running rampant down her sweaty cheeks and neck.
Where the fuck is Nolan?
Maybe seeing her best friend will snap her out of whatever this is. On second thought, Korren might even be better. As if I conjured them, they both come traipsing from the stairs. They stop once they spot us, eyes narrowing on Evie's shaking form between Ry and me.
"What's going on?" Korren growls, assessing the threat that we might be to our girl. It’s absolutely ludicrous, and I would never intentionally harm Eve. The tattooed knight prowls closer to me. With my body still turned towards the crying woman, I lift my hands, showing I mean peace and that whatever is going on, I am just as confused and scared.
"No, please!"
We all startle when she throws her hands above her face and throws herself to the ground, trying to protect as much of her body as possible. My breath catches at the sight of my beautiful girl curling in on herself in fear of us. My ears start to ring while my hands tremble and go numb at my side. She's afraid of us—the men who love her more than anything in the world.
Before I can snap out of my shock, Nolan is rushing forward and crouching beside her. My hearing comes back, but I can only hear Nol's voice. There is no crying, no screaming, or even a soft whimper.
"Eve!"
At his shout, I finally register what is happening in front of me. I take a step to the side and find that he has flipped her onto her back. She's not moving, nor is there a shine to her hair. Her skin is ashen, and her eyes...all the life has been sucked out of them just as the will to live is being sucked out of me. Her eyes are dead.
As my knees buckle, her golden eyes flare. "You didn't save me." My body doubles over as her irises mimic the brightness of the sun. My throat turns scratchy; my retinas burn, making them feel like I'm melting from the inside out.
She's right; I couldn't -
"Amiri!"
Shooting upright in bed, I take gulping breaths, my throat feeling like I've been raging for hours. Before I can form the words, a bottle of water is thrust into my hands, the lid already cracked, allowing me to gulp it down greedily.
"You good?" The familiar grunted words of my brother help to soothe my frayed edges right now.
"Fine."
"Nightmare?"
I squint when I look up at him, the sun framing his body beside my bed. The shades are wide open, allowing me to understand a bit more why that fucking dream ended like that.
Ignoring his question, I ask one of my own, "Was I screaming?" Because it sure fucking feels like it. It feels like I have about eight shredded chips lodged in my throat that won't go away no matter how much I drink or swallow.
Korren's face is unreadable. "No, but for the last hour, you have been snoring like you have fucking allergies." I snort. "Time to get up, visiting hours start in about an hour, and I'm assuming you will make us all eat."
After the hospital staff kicked us out last night, we followed our parents and Nolan's parents to a nice hotel a few blocks away. Thankfully, they had double for my brother and me, and the two lovebirds got their own king.
This hospital is far more strict, keeping to their two-person visit policy and visiting hours...it makes me wish we were home. Dr. Levine wouldn't kick us out because she understands just how much Eve needs love and support to heal.
My first wave of guilt for the day hits full force; Eve isn't well enough to travel, and here I am, wishing we were back home. I want to be around twenty-four-seven to ensure we have the latest updates, but most importantly, my angel is getting the care she needs. I scoff at myself, annoyed that I'm mad about sleeping in an amazing bed throughout the night while she is on her own, fighting just to open her goddamn eyes.
Breakfast consists of very few words in the hotel dining area. The eight of us all lost in our thoughts of Eve...Ryan has yet to eat even a bite of food. I shovel down as much as I can without puking; the need to be at my best for Eve is like fire under my skin.
I have to do better. Be better.
Hushed encouraging words from the parent’s filter across the wooden table. I can't tell if they actually believe she will be okay or are just trying to put on a good front for us. Either way, it doesn't do much to quell this wretched anxiety twisting my insides.
The drive to the hospital is the same, quiet and subdued; none of us ready for what the day might bring. I want to reach out to my brothers, but I'm trapped in my own torment that bombarded my system when I saw my mom yesterday. My walls are firmly demolished, leaving me vulnerable and aching.
Dressed in clean clothes that Mia and Dan brought for all of us, we shuffle our way into the bustling hospital. Our shoulders are hunched inward in varying degrees of t-shirts and pants, a natural form of self-preservation.
I find myself in the ICU waiting room, not even remembering the walk here, too lost in my mindless musings—anything to keep me from thinking about that God-awful dream last night.
Dan somehow manages to get an update without me noticing and comes back to tell us that the two of us can head in for a visit. Eve has made no progress; the night was rough on her and the staff. Complications and alarms had them rushing in each hour to stabilize her again. I'm too fucked in the head to really grasp what happened or what they did to help her.
