Pinned but Fluttering

Chapter 19

“The gl-gl-glass,” I moaned. “I d-d-don't want to get c-c-c-cut.”

“Well, I'm not standing here all frickin' day,” he complained. “Either go now and take your chances or wait until I get home from school.”

He wasn't leaving me much of a choice; my full bladder demanded immediate action or I would end up with a soaked bed beneath me.

I slowly began to unfold my very stiff limbs, groaning in pain as the circulation began to return to my arms and legs.

“Hurry the hell up! You're going to make me late,” Jacob demanded, his arms folded over his chest as he leaned against the door frame.

I glared at him, in too much pain to care if I angered him. As I finally stood shakily, my arms and legs screaming with pins and needles after so many hours of being beneath the weight of my torso, I tried to pick a few shards of glass from my shoulder and arms.

On my first attempt, my index finger skewered itself on a sharp fragment of glass.

“Damn,” I muttered, pulling the pointed shard out of my finger while holding my breath. The smell of blood, coppery and salty, either made me vomit or pass out cold, neither of which was a good option when one is surrounded by miniscule shards of glass.

Jacob sighed dramatically. “God, you're going to make me totally late for class. And I don't want you tracking glass all over the fucking house,” he growled.

I was too mad at this point to cower as usual. “Well, then, you're just going to have to wait since this glass mess is your fault,” I stated, throwing him a glower.

Jacob sucked in a breath, apparently shocked by my retort, then frowned, his face darkening with controlled rage.

“Well, Miss Bitch, you'd better get moving, or I'll escort you myself, glass or no glass. And believe me, you do NOT want that to happen.”

Although his threat sent a shiver of dread down my spine, I ignored him and continued picking the shards of glass out of my hair, off my shoulders, from my forearms.

Because of the dim light from the open door, I wasn't doing a very good job because some of the slivers were practically microscopic, even poking my skin through my hoodie. As I picked at the shards, several sliced my fingers, causing more pain and more blood.

As I couldn't hold my breath for very long, I was forced to breathe through my mouth only, but I could still detect the insidious scent of blood that made my stomach lurch and my head swirl with dizziness.

“Shit,” I heard Jacob mutter as I staggered, grabbing for the bedpost as the walls spun around me. I couldn't see his face as he was silhouetted against the light as he crossed the room, grasped my upper arm none too gently, and dragged me to the doorway of my room where the light was better. I wasn't expecting his quick movement as he grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, my back facing him. My hands flew out to brace myself against the door frame on either side of me to avoid losing my precarious balance. Then I swallowed my shock as I felt Jacob's huge fingers begin the delicate task of plucking pieces of glass from my back where I couldn't see or reach the shards.

It was crazy how much glass scattered everywhere just from one stinking light bulb.

I felt Jacob's hot fingers moving across my shoulders, through my long hair, down my back. I stood there, carefully braced and almost afraid to breathe...not just because of the blood that still oozed from my fingers but because I wasn't sure why Jacob was helping me.

What was in it for him? A quicker escape to school? A way of torturing me further? Or a true kindness?

My mind spun with dizziness...and with possibilities.