Page 88 of Fragile hearts

“Carson, you need to breathe, man. Who’s going to kill who?” I can see it. Alexis lying on her living floor, bleeding, her breathing slowing, her beautiful hair painted red.

Not her. Please not her.

Tears trickle down my cheeks, my phone shakes in my hand.

I can’t lose her. I just got her.

I stand up, as if a switch has flipped in my head, grab my keys, and run towards my car. A door slams closed behind me. Footsteps follow me as I near the driver’s door. “No, I’m driving.” Killian grabs the keys out of my palm, pushing me towards the passenger side. I normally refuse, but this time I don’t make a fuss. The only thing on my mind is to get to Alexis before he kill—

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Faster!” I dial Alexis’s number. Voicemail. I dial again. Voicemail.

“Stupid fucking voicemail! Come on, Alexis, answer the phone!”

The sound of tires screeching against the asphalt fills my ears.

I dial again. “This is the voicema—”

“Fuck!”

Come on, Sunshine, come on. Don’t fucking do this to me.

My chest is tight. So tight I can barely breathe. This is not happening. This is not fucking happening. Fear claws deep in my chest. Alexis’s smile greets me on my phone.

“You are not doing this to me. You are not fucking doing this to me. I just got you. You promised you wouldn’t leave. You can’t leave me. You can’t.”

My eyes close. Every memory with Alexis plays in my head like a movie. “I didn’t tell her,” I whisper as Killian races through the street, breaking every possible speed limit.

“Tell her what?” He sounds as scared as I feel. He must have looked over my shoulder. He knows what’s happening in Alexis’s house.

“That I love her.” I should have told her. I should have told her the moment I realized what I felt for her. And now I may never get the chance. She could be dying right now, without knowing that she’s my world. I can’t lose her. I can’t.

“You can tell her when you see her, when she comes out of that house, unscathed.”

Unscathed? He has a gun. He was pointing it at her head. You don’t walk away unscathed when someone points a gun at you.

There are several police cars parked on our street as we near my house. There are officers everywhere.

No, no no.

Alexis, her front door is open. Killian doesn’t get to fully park the car before I swing the door open. An officer comes out. I vaguely recognize him.

“Coop—”

“Where is she?” I demand.

“Cooper, you need to—”

“Where the fuck is she?” I yell, running toward the door.

Please be alive, please be alive.

Someone tries to block me from entering, but I push them away. The pain in my chest is pure agony.

Bile rises in my throat as I look at the stained floor. Blood.

Please, no.