Page 180 of Broken Saint
I always have, and I’m pretty sure I always will.
One second everything is okay—well, far from okay, because I have no idea what the fuck is going on—and then the next, everything is in chaos.
My throat sears with pain, my heart pounds heavily in my chest, machines begin beeping, and footsteps pound against the floor.
“Colt?” West asks, fear lacing his voice.
Hearing it makes my blood run cold. But it’s got nothing on the panicked cry of Ella a second later.
“Colt. Oh my god, what’s going on?’ she screams.
Hands touch me, but they’re not hers.
Finally aware of my limbs, I try to fight them off before my hands go to my mouth.
What the hell?
There’s something in my mouth…something…
My own panic begins to escalate.
“Colton,” a soothing voice says. “Everything is fine. We need you to calm down, okay? We know this is scary, but I promise you, everything is okay.”
Okay?
Okay?
How is any of this okay right now?
In the distance, I can hear sobbing and my heart shatters.
I’m hurting her.
I never want to fucking hurt her.
There are voices and hands everywhere, but I can’t focus on them. All I can hear is Ella. The sound of her voice makes my heart beat harder
Darkness threatens to drag me back under, but I fight it. I fight it so hard.
I want to be with her. I want to see her, to listen to her voice.
I want her hands on me, not these strangers’.
“Colton, we’re going to take the tube from your throat. It’s going to feel a little strange, okay?”
A tube in my throat?
Why is there a?—
Whoever it is pulls it free, and she’s right, it feels weird as fuck.
My eyes flicker and light sears through, burning my retinas.
I take a deep breath the second it’s free, but that’s all I remember.
Everything goes dark and sleep claims me once more.
When I come to again, I feel a little more normal.