And if he believed me, he would kill Jake. Nohesitations. No second thoughts.
And I can’t put that sort of shit on Ash right now. He already has enough going on.
I notice her as soon as she walks into the clubhouse. There are circles under her eyes and she’s lost weight… too much weight. I try to catch her eyes, but Caroline tells us he’s close.
In typical Ash fashion… he ruins his surprise, but the moment that he and Care have outside of the lounge makes everyone happy and makes up for the lack of surprise.
It’s late into the evening, when I step outside to grab something from my Jeep when I spot her. She’s stumbling out towards where Ash has the house going up.
Curious, I follow her. When she trips over her feet and nearly face-plants, I hurry to catch her.
“Careful there.” I whisper into her ear. Steading her on her feet when I look at her eyes.
It’s almost like it fucking happens in slow motion, but her eyes roll back into her head and her entire body goes limp. I instantly panic, trying to figure out exactly what to do.
I was never a medic, but they taught us basic survival.
“Ella, El,” I shake her as she continues to lie limp in my arms. “Marcella.” I shout, shaking her again before I slowly slide to sit down on the ground, cradling her body in mine. “Fuck.” I damn near roar out, leaning her to the side and being able to look down at her. Cradling her head against my arm and turning it so I can open her mouth. I jam my fingers down her throat until I feel it spasm and hear her retch. Any training that I’ve had says not to induce vomiting unless you know what they’ve ingested or there’s no other option, and right now, I’m positive that there’s no other fucking option.
As soon as my fingers are clear of her mouth, moving her nearly so that her head is facing the ground, so she doesn’t choke on her own vomit, as she empties the contents of her stomach on the ground next to where we’re sitting.
I finally breathe a sigh of relief when her hands come down bracing herself against the ground, steading herself.
Leaning back into me when she’s finished, I feel her tense up as her back touches me and a shudder through her body until she looks back and softens.
“Axe?” she whispers out.
“Yeah.”
“What are you doing out here? What are we doing out here?” She whispers again as I just shake my head.
“I don’t know what you were doing out here.” I smile at her as I brush the hair that had fallen in her face out of the way. I can tell by just her eyes alone that she’s still highly fucked up on whatever she took. It causes me to sigh. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” I whisper to her as I rub her arms, helping her stand up. She stumbles as she stands, and I can’t help but reach out to her to steady her.
“Thank you,” she whispers, but in her eyes, nothing is really registering to her.
Supporting her weight, I walk with her, back up to the clubhouse, into the backdoor. First checking to make sure that we won’t run into anyone, and then I’m pushing her up the stairs.
“El, what’s the code?” I ask her as her head lays drooped against my chest.
“1234.” She whispers and I can’t help but laugh to myself.
As we walk into the room, I lower her down to sit on the bed as she looks up at me. I want to smile at her, but all I can see behind her eyes is pain.
I have no fucking clue what is going on with her, yet all I want to do is fix her world. “You’ll feel better after a shower.” I nod to her, making sure it’s okay with her. She just slowly nods her head.
I would give anything right now to have the Ella back who would have made a pass at me after that statement.
Walking into the bathroom and opening the shower door, flipping on the water and waiting for it to heat up. Adjusting the temperature so that it’s warm but not scalding.
“Okay,” walking back into the room, seeing her still sitting in the same place that I placed her before, I feel slightly sad. Somehow, the life that was once inside of her has been extinguished. “You ready?” Looking up at me, she slowly nods her head. “Where’s your bag? Did you get some clothes to sleep in?” She just slowly shrugs. “You didn’t pack any clothes?” I ask her.
“Um, I was just going to sleep in this.” She tells me as she tugs at the bottom of her shirt.
“Well, that will not work.” She sighs. “Hey, I’ll go find something for you to wear. Just go get in the shower.” I nod to the bathroom. Slowly, her head matches my nod before she turns and walks towards the open door.
Making it back from my room, I crack the door as I call out. “There're some clothes for you on the sink.” I hear a weak thank you come out as I force myself to not look in the mirror.
I’m still waiting in the room when she steps out, I’m slightly worried about leaving her alone because of what happened last time when she was staying up here. The rest is there’s a nagging in the back of my head about her wearing my clothes tonight. I have to force myself to look away from her when I see her in them. I also have to remind myself of why I haven’t fucked her.