Damage me (continuation)

Chapter 43

A/N: I left off with Juliette getting shot on the beach and nazeera and eva started rushing her back to base. here we go!

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Eva's POV:

The minute we reach the unfinished medical floor, Nazeera shouts for Sonya and Sara, and they come rushing out of the room they were in. It takes them a few seconds, but as soon as they make out what's happened they jump into action. I try not to focus on the girl limp in my arms, only listening to the twins commands and following them word for word.

Bring her into the room to the right; lay her down on the table; get me a washcloth and some water; set it there; you can go.

But I freeze on their last command, hesitate. I don't want to leave but i'm too afraid to stay.

I finally force myself to look over at her, and the air catches in my throat. Blood smears her body, her hair mangled, skin pale. I feel a sudden, overcoming rush of terror, dread—anger. I'm so, so angry, i realize. At the familiar woman who shot her, the men who tried to take her away. But most of all, i'm angry with myself.

I can't let this happen again, i can't lose another sister. My job was to protect them, both of them.

But i've already failed. Emmaline has been gone for a while now, and there's no way she's coming back, not in the way that matters. And Ella—i don't know. I have no bloody idea how i'm going to fix this one.

My vision swims, and my head starts pounding, making me nauseous. I can't be here right now. I look up, around the room, and realize now that there are people lined against the walls. Ellas friends.

I hear a sudden slamming noise and, for a minute, think it's just my head, but when I turn around I know it was footsteps. Aaron is standing in the door frame, shaking, looking unsteady on his feet as he rushes to the table Ella lies on.

Alexis walks in almost immediately after him, but refuses to make eye contact with me. Aaron begins ripping off his blazer, panicked, and telling Sonya and Sara to do what they did before. And then, he looks around the room, his eyes stopping on me.

His eyes are wilded and defeated all in the same, and when he looks at me, I can feel the weight of his gaze, and when he speaks he hardly sounds like himself.

"Get out of here," he chokes out, and I can't help but feel shocked. "I don't know how you managed this," he says to me, "but this is your fault. You did this to her. You've kept everything from everyone—no one knows why you're here, or what you plan to do. For all I know, you probably shot her yourself. I don't trust you, and I never have."

By the time he's done, i'm doing everything but falling apart. He thinks I did this to her? He thinks I don't care about her? He used to be like my brother, the one I never had, but the one I needed. I know it's not his fault he forgot, it wasn't on his own terms, but still—how can he hate me?

His words sent a spear through my heart, leaving me open and vulnerable and needing air. I take an involuntary step back.

I stupidly expect Alexis to say something, to tell Aaron he's being too harsh, but of course she stays silent. Because she always picks her brother first.

I open my mouth to speak, although I have no idea what i'm going to say, but am cut off by another voice.

"If you'd like to meet the men responsible," Nazeera says, flat and cold, "you're welcome to. They have no identification, but the tattoos on his arms indicate they might be from a neighboring sector. Their dead bodies are in a holding cell underground."