"But you did it," I say. My brow furrows as pain twists inside me. It's a strange ache, something I've been fighting against since we got into my car. Maybe I hit the banister harder than I thought. I try to give him a smile, anything to reassure him that I feel the same way. "You told me everything, Carter, and I—" I dig my fingernails into my stomach. I can barely gasp out the last word as the ache explodes. One second, I am holding myself together. The next, I am falling apart. Something inside me rips open. My organs splinter, with pain lancing through me and sucking the breath out of my lungs.
When I finally gasp in a breath, I scream. It's not something out of a horror movie, but more like a wounded animal trying to escape a vice. I double over, dropping to the ground fast. A thousand needles jab at my insides, and I would do anything to make it stop. I claw at my abdomen, the surface pain nothing in comparison to what is happening underneath.
It's lightning and fire spreading through me. It's all encompassing, and I can't breathe.
"Emma?" I hear Carter, but he's in another world. One where I haven't been flayed open, one where I'm still whole.
I suck in a wet, gasping breath, and loll my head to the side. I feel him touching me, and I retch until I finally heave up whatever is inside me. My vision darkens. Carter tries to hold onto me, but he can't. Acid has seeped into my blood and spreads to my bones, eating me from the inside out.
"Emma!"
My vision tunnels. I want to tell him how I feel. I want to tell him that I was never using him to get back at my father. Carter is real. He's my life raft. I want to tell him all of these things, but my grasp on reality slips past me, like water running through my fingers. The last thing I see is Carter's stormy eyes filled with what I can only describe as genuine and pure love.
- - - - -
Carter's side next. More to come.
Leave your thoughts on what you think is happening to Emma. If you have suspicions, I would love to know. Thanks for sticking with me, readers! Few more chapters incoming. Will try not to leave you with this cliffhanger for long.