My knees collide with the unforgiving concrete, but I don’t feel it. I feel nothing but undiluted panic.
“No, please. You have to save her, please,” I beg as tears cascade down my cheeks.
Reaching out, I place a hand on Mum’s free arm. Her skin is cold. As if she’s already gone.
“No,” I sob. “I need you, Mum. I fucking need you.” I hate that those words are true. She’s been nothing but a shit mother my whole life, but still, even now, I hold onto that stupid hope that something might change. “Please.”
“You need to get out of Doc’s way,” Theo’s flat voice says a beat before warm hands wrap around my upper arms, lifting me from the ground.
“Get the hell off me,” I cry, thrashing around. “You need to fix this. You need to fix this now, you lying fucking cunt.”
I kick out behind me, hoping to cause just some of the damage I’m imagining, but before I can connect with any part of him, pain shoots up my arm and everything goes black.
The last thing I see is Theo’s lost and pained expression.