Page 106 of Hurt Me Not
“Jax!” I screamed, my voice breaking. “Jax, help! Emerson… Emerson’s hurt!”
But I didn't know if she could hear me. I was hyperventilating. I didn't know what to do. My hand hovered over the wound in her chest, but… Was I supposed to put pressure on it?
“Pearl,” she forced out, her voice weak as her bloody hand came to cup my face.
“Hold on. They'll be here any second now,” I said as I reached for my gun and pointed it at her father. He wasn’t moving, and he seemed to be losing a lot of blood.
Good. How dare he hurt her like this?
“Pearl,” Emerson breathed. “That's not you, Pearl. Don't dirty yourself with?—”
A violent coughing fit cut her off, spraying blood everywhere.
I dropped the gun.
“No. No. No, Emerson. Stay here with me, okay? I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for everything.”
“I have something to say.” Her voice was getting weaker.
“Save your strength!Jax!”
“Pearl.”
“Jax, please!” I was screaming so hard, my voice cracked. My throat was feeling raw. I couldn't scream loud enough. It seemed like no one heard me.
“I love you,” Emerson whispered, and I looked down at her, wide-eyed.
“Don't do this.” I swallowed the knot in my throat. I couldn't stop the tears from falling. “Not now. Not like this.”
“I'm the one who's sorry. I've never been able to say it, but I've loved you since—” She coughed again. “The first moment I laid eyes on you. Pearl, it's my fault?—”
I put my finger against her lips, silencing her.
“We can discuss this when you get better. Please, just don't do this.”
She was as pale as a sheet, her eyes bloodshot and barely open.
Am I going to watch the love of my life die? Right in front of me?
“Can you do one thing for me?”
I shook my head, and she let out a weak laugh that only dissolved into coughing.
“I’ll do whatever you want as soon as we’re out of here?—"
“Can you tell me if you still feel the same? Just let me hear it again.”
Sobs racked my entire body.
“No, I can’t. Not if it means?—”
“Please, Pearl.”
Her begging broke my heart. This wasn't Emerson. Emerson was strong. Hard-willed. Mean at times.
Emerson didn't beg.
She does. For you.
