Page 153 of Iced Up Love: Part Two
The memory of it.
The relief.
The fact that they found me.
That I’m here.
That I didn’t...
I break.
Completely.
The sobs come without warning, tearing through me, my body shaking with it as they close in, their hands tightening, their voices low, steady, grounding me through it.
I’m here.
I’m alive.
They found me.
I’m not alone anymore.
thirty-three
Liana
I wake choking on a sound I don’t recognize until I realize it’s mine.
It tears out of me before I can stop it, breath breaking, chest tight, my whole body jerking like I’ve been dragged out of something that still has its hands on me, still hasn’t let me go. For a second I don’t know where I am, only that something is wrong, something is still wrong, because I can feel it, the pressure, the pain, the pain.
It hits properly this time.
Sharp, low in my side, ripping through me hard enough that I curl instinctively, my hand flying toward it as another broken sound leaves my throat.
“Elijah!”
“Angel, hey, hey, I’ve got you.”
His voice cuts straight through everything else.
Elijah is there before I even fully open my eyes, his hands on me, not grabbing, not holding me down, just there, solid, real,anchoring me in place when everything inside me is still trying to run.
“You’re here,” he says, his voice rough, like he hasn’t used it properly in hours. “You’re here. You’re safe. Look at me.”
I try, but my vision is still blurred, my breathing too fast, my body still halfway somewhere else.
“I— I—”
“It’s okay,” he says quickly, softer now, one hand coming up to my face, his thumb brushing under my eye without even thinking about it. “You don’t have to say anything. Just breathe. Stay here with me.”
“Breathe, sweetheart.”
Jackson.
His hand closes around mine, firm, grounding, his thumb pressing into my skin in a slow rhythm that forces my attention back into my body.
“In… and out, yeah?” he murmurs, closer now. “Just like that. You’re okay. You’re right here.”
