Chapter 183
He lets out a small huff.
“Yeah p>
I swallow.
“How long have you been up p>
He shifts slightly in his chair but not much, just enough to show he’s in the same position as me.
“Been awake for a while,” he says.
His voice is low.
“I didn’t want to wake you. You hit your head pretty bad p>
I nod slightly…and i realize it’s a big mistake as pain shoots through my skull again, sharp and immediate.
I wince hard.
“Yeah… I can feel that p>
My vision flickers again still not completely steady. Okay maybe I really need to get that checked out it feels like I’m missing pieces, like something isn’t fully connecting.
I try to focus on what I’m missing again but the moment I push too hard Pain, hot blinding pain.
I gasp quietly and stp. Okay not that and not yet.
“Are you okay?” I ask instead.
My voice is quieter now.
He lets out a soft, dry laugh.
“Well… I woke up tied to a chair p>
A pause.
“So no. I’m not really okay p>
Despite everything… a small, almost disbelieving breath leaves me.
I don’t know how he can laugh in this situation but maybe it’s his way of dealing with it so I d don’t question it.
I look down at my hands again, they ar still numb and discolord.
I need to get out of this quickly or at this rate I might lose my hands. I twist my wrists again much slower this time and more deliberate.
The rope scrapes and burns against my skin but I keep going, trying to create even the smallest bit of space just to relieve the tightness.
After all my efforts still Nothing.
“Come on…come on” I mutter under my breath as my fingers twitch weakly bt they’re not responding properly anymore. The numbness is getting worse.
Panic creeps back in as I pull harder, completely desperate now.
The chair shifts slightly beneath me, wood scraping faintly against the floor.
“Stop the driver whispers quickly.
But it’s too late as the movement jostles me and my head snaps slightly with it and the pain hits me hard…so hard my breath catches completely. Fuck!. it feels like I’m going to die, as a loud high ringing fills my ears. It’s so overwhelming, my vision blurs instantly and the room spins.
I gasp, my body going still as I try to fight it.
Don’t pass out…don’t dare pass out, not again. Not now.
I squeeze my eyes shut, my teeth sinking into my lower lip to keep any sound from escaping as the pain floods through m, almost suffocating me.
I try to focus on one thing.
Counting my breaths
One… Two p>
My breaths come inn shallow and uneven breathes and the ringing doesn’t stop and I press my tongue hard against the roof of my mouth. Anything to ground myself.
Eight… Nine p>
The pain pulses with every number but I keep going because I have to, because I can’t let whoever brought me here know I’m fully awake yet. I have to look for an escape route, not until I have something a plan anything.
Eleven… Twelve p>
My fingers twitch uselessly against the rope and the room is still spinning as Ibite down harder on my lip nd the taste of iron fills my mouth
Seventeen… Eighteen p>
I don’t stop i i can’t stop.
Nineteen… Twenty p>
My breathing starts to steady again, just a little and the ringing softens slightly.
Twenty-three…Twenty-four p>
The pain is still there, bt it’s not swallowing me whole anymore.
I slowly open my eyes again and th room comes back into view. Atill blurry but steadier.
Twenty-nine…Thirty.
I exhal slowly and my body goes still.
I don’t move again.
Not yet. Not until I figure out what the hell I’m going to do next.
I sigh trying to catch my breathe but I barely have time to steady my breathing before I hear it.
Footsteps, soft and a few few feets away at first then clearer, a door somemewhere behind me creaks open and my whole body goes still instantly. With every muscle tight and every sense alert.
The footsteps follow unhurriedly, getting closer.
My heart starts pounding again, louder this time, like it’s trying to break out of my chest.
I turn my head as much as I can, ignoring the dull throb that comes with the movement.
The room is still a little blurry, but I force my eyes to focus as the figure steps further into the light.
Closer…Closer and then when he steps into the light I see him clearer.
Aaron p>
My breath catches as relief hits so fast it almost makes me dizzy.
Oh thank God.
That’s what I was trying to remember, the missing piece that kept slipping through my head.
Aaron.
Fuck how could I forget him?guilt hits right after. Because for a second back there… I…I forgot about him. I actually forgot.
My eyes move over him quickly, checking and accessing His clothes re a little rumpled and there’s a deep scratch on his cheek but it looks someone already took care of it.
But he’s standing, alive and fine. My shoulders drop slightly without me realizing it as reliefd loosens something tight in my chest.
“You… you look fine,” I say, my voice still a little rough.
“Thank fuck you’re okay p>
I swallow, my eyes still fixed on him.
“How are you not tied up with us p>
The question barely leaves my lips before I shake my head.
“That doesn’t even matter p>
I let out a shaky breath as hope creeps in.
“Please… just just get us out of this p>
I pull slightly against the ropes again, like showing him will make it faster.
“Untie us Let’s go home p>
Aaron doesn’t move though, he just stands there looking at me. There’s something in his expression I can’t quite place.
Something… off.
My brows pull together slightly.
“Aaron p>
He tilts his head just a little.
Then He smirks.
“Who says I’m here to save you, Elaine p>