Inhale, Exhale - By Sarah M. Ross
PROLOGUE
“This is your fault, you stupid son-of-a-bitch!”
I twisted out of the arms holding me back and rammed my fist in his face again, seeing nothing but red. I continued to pound the bastard’s face until I was once again pulled off him.
“I swear to God, if you ever so much as even think about stepping in the same zip code as her ever again, I will rip out your spine and feed it to you before breaking every bone in your body.”
The prick lay on the ground, his chest heaving as he tried to take a ragged breath. Red, mucus-streaked blood dripped out of his mouth and down his chin. He spat out a tooth, spraying blood on the ground at my feet. He never bothered to try to stand back up. It was a smart decision on his part, because I’d just knock him back down.
“Dude, enough!” JT tightened his grip on my arms as blood dripped from my knuckles.
The f*cker’s eyes held genuine remorse as he glanced around the room at each of us. “I had no idea this would happen. She wasn’t supposed to do that. They weren’t supposed to hurt her. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry for everything,” he moaned.
The words and his regret weren’t enough to make up for his actions, but before I could strike again, he whispered, “Please, tell me she’s going to be okay. That she’s not…”
The words broke me. My vision blurred behind the tears that welled in my eyes. Was she going to...? She couldn’t…? How did this happen? How did I let myself fail to protect her? She trusted me, and I let her down. I wanted to blame him, but really I had no one to blame but myself. I failed her.
My shoulders slumped as all my anger turned to fear. Fear for her. Fear of a future without her in it. I needed to see her, needed to make sure she was okay. But that wasn’t possible now. The only thing I could do was wait. Sit and wait for however this turned out.
Because no matter what happened, by the end of tonight my life would never be the same again.