42. I can’t go through this again…
I CAN’T GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN…
“Trouble…” The tears slid down my face. Her eyes were still open, still as blue as the sky. Still looking at me with love. She was okay… why isn’t she okay?
I looked around desperately, searching for anything or anyone who could help. Somebody to turn back time; instead, chaos continued around me, oblivious to the one thing that mattered most. Her.
My heart ripped as I looked down again; it wasn’t Gabriella. It was Oliver. A wail caught in my throat. I didn’t have the courage to go through this again. Not again. Please.
Pain shot across my leg as someone jerked my body up.
I held tight to her when they tried to pull her away from me.
My eyes caught the woman who had run forward, her eyes blue like an ocean, her hair just as golden.
Trouble’s mother. I recognized the look in her eyes: the heartbreak.
She stared at me as I held the girl. I rocked and shook as if that would fix it.
There was no fixing it. Why couldn’t I fix it?
A hand came across my face, slapping me hard. A voice telling me we needed to move. I couldn’t move. They hauled me upright.
The woman across from me was being hauled away, her eyes glued to mine. Heart racing, I swallowed back the cry as my feet stumbled forward. The men guiding me through the snow held tight as they walked me away, but my heart didn’t stop breaking.
We’d made it. She was ok. I glanced backward, seeing the carnage. The bloodied circle I wept in, and I couldn’t believe it. There was too much blood. I tripped and my head dropped forward as they pulled me back up.
I looked back again, hoping beyond hope. I saw her there, hand in hand with Oliver. Fingers intertwined as he whispered into her ear. She giggled and turned away as he chased after her.
I hadn’t realized they’d set me in a van until the door closed a moment later and my world plunged into darkness.