Page 109 of Iced Up Love: Part Two
My head turns.
Just enough.
And everything changes.
Jackson is on the floor with her, pulling her into his lap like he’s afraid she’s going to slip away if he doesn’t hold onto her hard enough. His hands are shaking. I’ve never seen them shake like that.
“Lia,” he says, and his voice breaks on it. “Lia, sweetheart, come on...open your eyes!”
Zach is already pressing his shirt into her side, his hands steady even though the rest of him isn’t, his jaw tight, his breathing uneven.
“There’s too much blood,” he says, like he’s forcing the words out through control. “We need to move. Now.”
I look at her.
Properly.
And for a second... something tries to happen inside me. She is dying.
No.
I shut it down so fast it’s like it never existed.
She’s not dying.
That’s not happening.
“She’s not dying,” I say, and my voice is flat, certain, leaving no space for anything else to exist. “We’re not losing her.”
Christian steps in beside me.
“Keys,” he says. “His car.”
I move.
The keys are on the counter. I don’t remember seeing them before. I just know they’re there now, my hand closing around them before I turn back.
“Get her up,” I snap.
Jackson doesn’t hesitate. He gathers her carefully, too carefully for the way his breathing is breaking, her body limp against him in a way that makes something in my chest tighten harder.
“Stay with me,” he keeps saying, like he can force her back if he doesn’t stop. “Stay with me, Lia...come on...”
Zach doesn’t take his hands off her, even as they move, even as they carry her out.
“Don’t give up,” he mutters. “Don’t give up...”
We step outside and the car is right there.
Paul’s car.
I unlock it as we reach it, wrench the driver’s door open, and by the time I’m in the seat Jackson is already in the back with her, pulling her into his lap, Zach climbing in beside him, still pressing down on the wound.
The engine turns.
I don’t think.
I drive.
