Barely Breathing (The Breathing #2)(148)

I squeezed my hand and the stone cut into me. With a shake of my head, I pulled away, my breath coming back to me in gasps. Jonathan creased his brow in pained confusion. I rushed past him.

"Emma!" he called out as I scurried down the stairs. "Emma, please!" he called again, his voice urgent. I pushed through the door, leaving him behind.





39. Breathe for Me



"Evan?" I called into the kitchen as I pushed open the door, my eyes frantically scanning the room. I paused, but only heard my wavering breaths.

"Evan?" I called out again more desperately as I continued down the hall.

"Emma?" His eyes tightened in confusion, then widened when I came into full view from where he stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Emma!" he exclaimed. "What happened to you?"

The pained shock in his blue eyes incapacitated me. I opened my mouth to speak but only gasped, unable to find the words. His face twisted in panic when I faltered, sinking to my knees with my arms wrapped around my ribs.



       
         
       
        

I closed my eyes at the touch of his arms sliding around me and collapsed against his chest. I didn't cry. I didn't say a word. I just breathed jagged bursts of air. He gently rocked my quaking body with his cheek pressed against my temple. I could barely hear him breathe, "Oh, Emma, what happened to you?" I remained quiet and just let him hold me.

I couldn't keep the blood soaked face from my thoughts, or Jonathan's hardened glare as he continued to punch it. The dark look in his eye when he finally turned toward me, then the shock when he saw my horrified reaction. His touch on my cheek, and the brush of his lips.

My head shot up, and I searched for Evan, gasping frantically.

"Emma?" His eyes darted across mine, tight and intense. "No one can hurt you now. Okay?"

I nodded and my chin quivered. I couldn't do anything except breathe in spasms as my eyes blurred with tears. But I still didn't cry. I couldn't. My entire body felt like it was about to burst apart, and I was doing all that I could to hold it together.

"Can you get up?" he asked with his arms still encasing me. I shook my head and rested on his chest, closing my eyes and concentrating on the quickened beats against my ear. "You won't stop shaking, Em. Please tell me what happened to you."

I exhaled in a rasp, unable to speak. I felt like I was breathing under water. I pressed my nose into his shirt and inhaled him, trying to fight my way back to the surface.

"Evan?" Vivian questioned in confusion. "Why are you... Emily? What's happened?"

"I don't know," Evan replied quietly.

I opened my eyes at the touch of her cool, soft hand sweeping against my cheek. Her bright blue eyes examined me sorrowfully. "We're going to take care of you." I pressed my lips together to hold in the ache and nodded. I closed my eyes again and Evan cupped the back of my head and squeezed me gently.

I heard her heels click on the floor as she said, "I think that will be all for today. Thank you for your help, Analise. If you wouldn't mind calling your mother to let her know that we'll reschedule that meeting for another day."

Evan slowly pulled back to examine me. I met his troubled gaze reluctantly. He gingerly tilted my chin to get a better look at the side of my face. "Let me get some ice."

He started to move away and my eyes widened in panic. "No," I pled, grabbing his arm. "Not yet."

Evan drew me back into him, kissing the top of my head. "Okay," he exhaled.

"What do you need?" Vivian asked from behind me.

"An ice pack," Evan told her calmly, not letting me go.

"Do you think she needs to go to the hospital?" Vivian asked. 

"I don't know. She hasn't said more than a few words since she got here."

"Emma?" Vivian soothed. I opened my eyes at the use of my preferred name, never having heard her say it before. Evan loosened his hold. "Emma, what happened to you dear?"

I looked into her sharp blue eyes as she patiently waited for me to explain. "He tried to take it." My voice came out quiet and shaky.

"Take what?" she coaxed gingerly.

Evan released me carefully when I moved my hand out from between us, unfolding my fingers to reveal the necklace. I heard her breathe in sharply at the blood coating my palm. I'd squeezed the diamond so tightly it had torn open my skin. I closed my hand back around it, numb to the wounds.

"Who was it?" she asked, her voice strong but tender.

"I don't know," I told her. "He was in my room when I got home."