Page 108 of Wanted

Bad.

“Cortney, please,” I choke, hoping like fuck I didn’t hear what I think I did.

The frantic edge of her voice is audible just above the static as she screams, “… been shot! Get … the hospital!”

“I’m coming.” I fight back a gag. Saliva fills my mouth, making my tongue feel thick and swollen. I shove the phone back into my pocket and yank out my keys. An empty gum wrapper flutters to the ground.

“What’s going on?” Lee’s at my side, his hand dropping heavily onto my shoulder. I don’t even flinch at the unexpected touch. I use the weight as a tool to ground myself.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

“I need your keys. We need to trade vehicles. I have to go.”

Six. Seven. Eight. Nine.

Corjan’s digging his keys out of his pocket before I finish. “What’s happened?”

Ten. Eleven. Twelve.

“Cortney said Frankie’s been hurt. I need to get to the hospital.” I gag again at the feeling of my heart in my throat.

Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen.

“We’ll come with you,” Lee declares, squeezing my shoulder.

Eighteen.

I fight against closing my eyes.

“No. You have to get the dogs out of here.”

“One of us can come,” Corjan says.

I shake my head.

Nineteen.

“It’s going to take both of you to get her out. I’ll be fine. Bring the dogs to the Sanctuary and meet us at the hospital. I have to go.”

The bronze and silver keys ring against one another as we swap. I squeeze them tight, feeling the pinch of teeth biting into my flesh.

“Breathe, Jude,” Lee says.

Inhale.

Twenty.

Exhale.

Twenty-one.

Twenty-two.

Twenty-three.

Oh fuck.

I’ve never counted this far in my life. If the numbers don’t stop, I usually just start over again, but this time, the feeling doesn’t abate, and I can’t force myself back to one. My brain and body are left unsatisfied with the usual ritual. My panic kicks up a notch, reaching levels I haven’t felt since I was a kid waiting for my dad to force me to take his belt.

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