Out of Breath by Rebecca Donovan

Author:Rebecca Donovan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780141348223
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-07-02T07:00:00+00:00

23

Silent Pain

ALL THAT ESCAPED HER WERE RHYTHMIC breaths. She couldn’t stop shaking, no matter how tight I held her. She didn’t resist when I eased us onto the bed. Leaning back against the padded headboard, I shifted her onto my chest, and secured her in my arms. ‘Emma, you have to know that every word was a lie. Don’t let her hurt you,’ I pleaded, my lips brushing against her hair.

She just continued to quake. I felt like I’d been stabbed in the chest with a flaming torch. I hated that selfish, vindictive woman. She made sure her final act was to crucify the one person who had ever tried to love her repeatedly. I inhaled deeply to push my contempt away. It wasn’t what Emma needed right now.

We stayed like this, wrapped in silent pain, until I heard the front door open.

‘Emma?’ Sara called out. ‘Evan?’

I opened my mouth to call to her just as she appeared in the doorway. She eyed Emma lying on my chest in my arms and glared at me. ‘What are you –’ She stopped, her eyes narrowing as she examined Emma more closely, then walked cautiously towards us. ‘What happened? Emma?’ Sara looked up at me in alarm. ‘Evan, what happened to her? What did you do?’

I shook my head at her accusation. ‘There’s a letter. It’s on the floor somewhere.’

Sara warily took her eyes off us and searched the floor, bending down to pick up the piece of paper. I couldn’t watch her read it.

‘Fucking bitch!’ Sara exclaimed, startling me. I looked down at Emma. Still locked against me, she didn’t flinch. ‘How could she –’ Sara crumpled the paper and stormed out of the room. I heard drawers slamming shut as she muttered, ‘That fucking bitch,’ over and over again. I smelled smoke and knew exactly what she’d done.

Sara appeared back in the room, crawling onto the bed on the other side of me so she could see Emma’s face. She leaned close to her, peering into her blank eyes, and ran her hand along her cheek.

‘Emma,’ she soothed, ‘she was an awful person, and all she wanted was to hurt you. You can’t let her. Em, you can’t let her. You’re so much stronger than that. I know you are. Please, Emma.’

Sara pursed her lips and tears filled her eyes. She redirected her gaze to me and said, ‘She can’t believe it. Evan, we can’t let that woman break her.’

‘I know,’ I said quietly, running my hand along Emma’s back.

Emma jolted under my touch. I tilted my head to see her face. ‘Emma?’

She inhaled a sob, her chest heaving. Pulling away from me and curling into a ball, she screamed, ‘No!’

Sara froze in stunned silence.

‘No! No!’ Emma balled her fist and punched the mattress repeatedly, her eyes squeezed shut as she screamed the words over and over again. ‘No! No! No!’ She burst into hysterics, crying so hard, her whole body convulsed. Sara looked at me, fear flashing across her face.

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