Leave it to me to do something perfectly normal only to wind up getting stuck in some kind of ridiculous predicament.
My cheeks burning with embarrassment, I close my eyes as I let out a deep sigh of resignation.
“Luci,” I call out, my voice barely audible.
“What are you doing?”
I open my eyes to find Luci standing in the archway.
“I-I’m stuck.”
“Stuck? How?”
I glare at him for a long moment before gesturing to my bent over body.
“I’ve bent, and I can’t get up.”
For the second time today, I see the hint of a smile tug at the corner of his mouth.
“Do you need my help?”
“Of course, I need your help,” I retort. “Why else would I call you in here?”
It’s only after I say this, that I realize my breathing has become too shallow. My head swims as I try to pull in more air and fail.
“Evi?”
I look up at Luci, my vision blurring as his expression grows serious.
“Air,” I barely manage to whisper, my eyelids drooping.
The next thing I know, Luci’s hands have grabbed the back of the dress and torn it from me. Freed from whatever was keeping me pinned to the counter, Luci pulls me away from the sink and I crumple into his arms as my legs give way beneath me.
“Evi? Evi!”
My vision fades to black as he carefully places me down on the floor and I look up into Luci’s face.
For a second, I feel as though I’m floating out of my body only to be thrown back into it as icy air floods my lungs.
My heart pounds hard against my ribs, and my eyes flutter open.
Luci is bent over me, his mouth to mine as he quite literally breathes life back into me. I push against his chest, and he leans back to allow me to cough.
I roll onto my side, only to find the strings keeping the corset in place have been torn from it as it falls from my body. This brings a whole new meaning to those bodice ripper books of my mom’s I used to sneak peeks at.
“Evi, are you alright?”
I don’t answer. Closing my eyes, I curl in on myself as fury floods my body at his question.
Of course, I’m not all right. It’s getting to the point that I can’t even remember the last time that I was.
I want to scream, but I’m still just trying to get enough oxygen in my body.
Luci pulls me up into his arms, scooping me off the floor as he carries me out of the bathroom. I want to struggle, to fight him, but I can’t.
My body lulls limply against him, and in some odd way, I feel comforted by his strength cradling my weak body.
Pulling back the duvet, Luci lays me down on the bed before covering me with the blanket and perching on the edge of the mattress.