He lets out a small huff.
"Yeah."
I swallow.
"How long have you been up?"
He shifts slightly in his chair but not much, just enough to show he’s in the sa position as .
"Been awake for a while," he says.
His voice is low.
"I didn’t want to wake you. You hit your head pretty bad."
I nod slightly...and i realize it’s a big mistake as pain shoots through my skull again, sharp and imdiate.
I wince hard.
"Yeah... I can feel that."
My vision flickers again.....still not completely steady. Okay maybe I really need to get that checked out it feels like I’m missing pieces, like sothing isn’t fully connecting.
I try to focus on what I’m missing again but the mont I push too hard.....Pain, hot blinding pain.
I gasp quietly and stp. Okay..... not that and not yet.
"Are you okay?" I ask instead.
My voice is quieter now.
He lets out a soft, dry laugh.
"Well... I woke up tied to a chair."
A pause.
"So no. I’m not really okay."
Despite everything... a small, almost disbelieving breath leaves .
I don’t know how he can laugh in this situation but maybe it’s his way of dealing with it so I d don’t question it.
I look down at my hands again, they ar still numb and discolord.
I need to get out of this quickly or at this rate I might lose my hands. I twist my wrists again much slower this ti and more deliberate.
The rope scrapes and burns against my skin but I keep going, trying to create even the smallest bit of space just to relieve the tightness.
After all my efforts still Nothing.
"Co on...co on" I mutter under my breath as my fingers twitch weakly bt they’re not responding properly anymore. The numbness is getting worse.
Panic creeps back in as I pull harder, completely desperate now.
The chair shifts slightly beneath , wood scraping faintly against the floor.
"Stop....." the driver whispers quickly.
But it’s too late as the movent jostles and my head snaps slightly with it..... and the pain hits hard...so hard my breath catches completely. Fuck!. it feels like I’m going to die, as a loud high ringing fills my ears. It’s so overwhelming, my vision blurs instantly and the room spins.
I gasp, my body going still as I try to fight it.
Don’t pass out...don’t dare pass out, not again. Not now.
I squeeze my eyes shut, my teeth sinking into my lower lip to keep any sound from escaping as the pain floods through m, almost suffocating .
I try to focus on one thing.
Counting my breaths
One... Two.....
My breaths co inn shallow and uneven breathes and the ringing doesn’t stop and I press my tongue hard against the roof of my mouth. Anything to ground myself.
Eight... Nine...
The pain pulses with every number but I keep going because I have to, because I can’t let whoever brought here know I’m fully awake yet. I have to look for an escape route, not until I have sothing.....a plan anything.
Eleven... Twelve...
My fingers twitch uselessly against the rope and the room is still spinning as Ibite down harder on my lip nd the taste of iron fills my mouth
Seventeen... Eighteen...
I don’t stop.....i....i can’t stop.
Nineteen... Twenty...
My breathing starts to steady again, just a little and the ringing softens slightly.
Twenty-three...Twenty-four...
The pain is still there, bt it’s not swallowing whole anymore.
I slowly open my eyes again and th room cos back into view. Atill blurry but steadier.
Twenty-nine...Thirty.
I exhal slowly and my body goes still.
I don’t move again.
Not yet. Not until I figure out what the hell I’m going to do next.
I sigh trying to catch my breathe but I barely have ti to steady my breathing before I hear it.
Footsteps, soft and a few few feets away at first then clearer, a door sowhere behind creaks open and my whole body goes still instantly. With every muscle tight and every sense alert.
The footsteps follow unhurriedly, getting closer.
My heart starts pounding again, louder this ti, like it’s trying to break out of my chest.
I turn my head as much as I can, ignoring the dull throb that cos with the movent.
The room is still a little blurry, but I force my eyes to focus as the figure steps further into the light.
Closer...Closer..... and then when he steps into the light I see him clearer.
Aaron!.
My breath catches as relief hits so fast it almost makes dizzy.
Oh thank God.
That’s what I was trying to rember, the missing piece that kept slipping through my head.
Aaron.
Fuck how could I forget him?guilt hits right after. Because for a second back there... I...I forgot about him. I actually forgot.
My eyes move over him quickly, checking and accessing....His clothes re a little rumpled and there’s a deep scratch on his cheek but it looks soone already took care of it.
But he’s standing, alive and fine. My shoulders drop slightly without realizing it as reliefd loosens sothing tight in my chest.
"You... you look fine," I say, my voice still a little rough.
"Thank fuck you’re okay."
I swallow, my eyes still fixed on him.
"How are you not tied up with us?"
The question barely leaves my lips before I shake my head.
"That doesn’t even matter."
I let out a shaky breath as hope creeps in.
"Please... just.....just get us out of this."
I pull slightly against the ropes again, like showing him will make it faster.
"Untie us..... Let’s go ho."
Aaron doesn’t move though, he just stands there looking at . There’s sothing in his expression I can’t quite place.
Sothing... off.
My brows pull together slightly.
"Aaron?"
He tilts his head just a little.
Then.... He smirks.
"Who says I’m here to save you, Elaine?"
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