Flashes of Mila’s smiling face keep alternating with the sight of her broken body.
Everything feels muted, and my surroundings look dull as if all life has been drained from it.
Mila’s the brightness behind every color around me. She’s the rhythm to the beat of my heart. Her smile lights up my world, and her sass spices up my mundane existence.
Without Mila…
What’s left to live for?
“Jase.” Hearing Mr. West call my name has my head snapping up, and I dart back to my feet. His features are dark with worry as he comes to take hold of my arm, saying, “Mila just came to, and she’s asking for you.”
I nod and hurry down the hallway to the private room she’s in. When I walk inside, and my eyes land on her, the pressure in my chest eases up a little.
“Jase,” she croaks, and her bruised face crumbles.
I dart forward, and sitting down on the bed, I lean over her. “I’m here, Mila. I’m here.”
She manages to lift one hand and grabs hold of my shirt, pulling me closer to her. When she ducks her face into my neck, I wrap my arms around her and hold her as she cries.
That fucker will pay for every tear she sheds.
“I’m here, Mila,” I keep whispering.
Holding my broken girl, I vow to never leave her side. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’ll help her through this nightmare.
I have to cling to the hope that I’ll see her smile and hear her sassing me again.Chapter 12MILAIt’s a struggle to get my eyes to open, and when they finally do, it’s to see Dad’s worried face and Mom’s tears.
For one blessed second, I’m filled with confusion.
But then, flashes of the night begin to bombard me. My heart almost jumps out of my chest as fear drags me back to the nightmare my life has been thrown into.
I see Justin’s demented face.
I feel his hands on me.
Then it all swirls into blackened chaos when I remember the feel of him between my legs.
Nausea overwhelms me, and through my panic and despair, I can’t take in any of the words spilling from my parents' lips.
I can’t focus. I can’t deal with any of it.
Crushed, my mind latches onto a safe thought. Jase. Every ounce of love I have for Jase wars against the terror I’m engulfed in.
“Jase,” I whimper, and my desperate gaze latches onto my father’s. “Jase.”
He nods and rushes out of the room. I can’t tear my eyes away from the exit, and the moment Jase appears in the doorway, it feels like some of the darkness retreats with his presence.
“Jase,” I croak as the relief from the sight of him overwhelms me.
He darts forward and sits down on the bed. “I’m here, Mila. I’m here.”
His voice acts as a soothing balm to my shattered soul. With Jase in reaching distance, I try to lift my left arm, but a wave of sharp pain has me stilling, and I try to move my right instead. When the ache isn’t as intense, I manage to grab hold of his shirt and pull him closer.
I bury my face in his neck, and feeling some semblance of safety, my tears begin to fall. I cry because of the nightmare I survived, but also for everything that was stolen from me.
I feel so small and fragile in Jase’s arms. It feels like there’s nothing left of the person I once was, and it makes me cry harder.
“I’m here, Mila,” Jase repeatedly whispers until I nod against his neck. My movement makes him pull back. His features are tight with anguish and rage. When our eyes lock, and I get to see his golden-brown irises again, it makes me feel a little safer.
In the span of a single night, everything between us has changed. Right now, I don’t care whether we’re friends or more. I care about nothing but how safe I feel when he’s close by. Jase has become a shelter for my ruined soul and wrecked heart.
“Don’t leave,” I whisper. As long as Jase is with me, the gruesome memories can’t sink their claws into me.
Without Jase, they’ll drag me so far under, there won’t be any way of getting out of the darkness.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Jase says. He brings his hands to my face, and his touch is careful as his eyes drift over me.
With my hand still gripping a fistful of Jase’s shirt and my eyes locked on his face, I drift off to a world filled with jagged edges and dark shadows.JASEMr. West made sure I can stay with Mila because my presence helps to keep her calm.
She hasn’t woken up long enough to tell us what happened. But whenever she regains consciousness, her hand tightens its grip on mine, and her eyes frantically search until they lock on mine. Only then does she relax enough to fall asleep again.