Page 188 of Forgotten Prejudice

“Who’s him?” I yelled, my throat ripping apart. “What happened?”

Kai struggled to focus his eyes on me and continued spurting unhelpful crap. For God’s sake! I needed him to answer me—

“Soren!” Miles gasped after I slapped Kai with the back of my hand, so hard the guy probably saw stars. Yet, before he could go into shock again, I held him close.

“What happened? Where are they?”

The idiot sniffed before he pointed at the waves. “We tried reaching a safe spot when a flash rip took us by surprise.” He sobbed. “It dragged Ashy away in seconds before either of us could do anything.” His sobbing turned into crying at the same time my whole body turned to ice. “A-Andrei tried going after him, but he disappeared, too.”

The urge to slip my hands from his shoulders down to his throat and tighten my grip until he ceased to exist was unbearable.

I tried counting the seconds in my head to get those obsessive thoughts out of my mind, but it didn’t help. My mouth dried, and my temples throbbed as I swallowed hard, my fingers already twitching to move—

“Andrei!” Miles called, snapping my attention at once.

Looking straight ahead, I saw Andrei stumbling out of the water with Ashton in his arms. I dropped Kai at once and jumped to my feet, only to fall back to the sand before getting up again.

Andrei carried Ashton until they reached the safe zone, and he put Ashton’s unconscious body down before he slumped down and began coughing out water. Without wasting time, I dropped to my knees beside Ashton, tilted his head back, and lifted his chin. His skin was ice-cold, but it didn’t stop me, and I bent down until my lips were on his. I had kissed this man a million times, but never before was a kiss as important as this one. And in this dreadful moment, my sole wish was to kiss him a million times more.

After giving him two breaths, I positioned the heel of my strong hand at the center of his chest and began doing compressions. Counting came easy, and I moved in a trance, counting to thirty, then two and thirty again. But seconds turned into long minutes in which hope began to thin, and fat tears welled in my eyes. Each time I breathed into his mouth, I prayed for God to hear my calls and help me save this man because the world would be a colder place without its sun.

The wind whistled around us, and the rain only got stronger. My hands hurt, and I became tired, my body aching with agonizing pain from the inside out. Tears blurred my vision, yet I forced myself to stay calm and do my best.

“Goddamnit, Ashton!” I shouted while giving him another thirty compressions. “Don’t you dare die on me!” My voice was so hoarse and raw that I couldn’t even recognize it. “If you live, I promise you we’ll have as many kids as you want,” I cried, still trying to pump air into his lungs, not stopping even for one second. Why now, of all times, could I see it so clearly? Our future. Him and me, traveling the world, building fucking sandcastles with our children and dogs. Why was life this cruel?

Then, in a miracle that lasted only a second, Ashton’s chest rose, and he coughed, choking on the water he’d drowned on. I quickly turned him to his side as he continued to wheeze and puke out everything that he’d swallowed, his body shaking while he did. And although the sound was repelling, it gave me comfort because it meant he was alive.

“Take it easy, my love, a breath at a time,” I whispered to him, and to myself, while brushing his wet hair away from his face. “Take it easy. I’m here.”

At some point, his gasping turned into a choked sob, and so I turned him to his back when he grunted with pain.

“I-It hurts,” he mumbled, eyes closed.

“What does?” I asked, already looking for injuries, but it was hard to see with his wet suit on.

“Everything.”

Biting my lip, I attempted to hold back a cry because, currently, there was nothing left for me to do other than wait for the EMTs to arrive. If he’d broken something, moving him might make it worse, so instead, I slid my hand into his and held it tight.

“Don’t worry, little Sparrow. It will all be okay soon.” I kissed his forehead, thanking God for hearing my prayers.

Ash

I pried my eyes open; at first, the room was a blur until I managed to focus on the white ceiling and reminded myself I was still in the hospital. My body was hurting, like I’d been lying still for too long, and I tried to get up and relax my muscles when a sharp pain in my ribs forced me to stay put.

“Easy there, kiddo,” a deep voice said, and I turned my head on the pillow to see who it was.

A face nearly identical to mine, only older, looked at me, a warm smile on his lips.

“Dad?” I whispered, unable to believe my eyes.

The man laughed and then leaned back in his chair. “Well, I’ll take it as a compliment, Champ.”

My confusion turned into shock. After years of not seeing him, Aiden was here, sitting beside my bed like he’d never left.

“You look good,” I said, my eyes studying him the best they could, considering my fuzzy state. He seemed different, smaller in a way. More fragile?

“Nah, I look like an old man.”