Page 61 of Protecting Christina

“His situation is a bit more complicated, according to the paramedic. We’re waiting for a doctor to assess him.”

I looked inside the room where he lay on the stretcher. “Is he asleep?”

Jager bit his cheek and looked at Jake behind me.

“Tell me,” I said more forcefully than I should have, but I didn’t know why he was holding out on me.

“We can’t wake him up. I don’t know if he’s in a coma or not. We’re going to have to wait to speak to the doctor.”

I ignored their hands on my shoulder, trying to stop me as I pushed past them toward Will.

A thin white sheet and black soot covered his bare chest. Gently, I ran my hand over the stubble on his jaw and pushed his hair away from his face. His full lips remained straight. No grin or wry smile tugged at them. I’d never seen Will asleep. I wasn’t sure if this was how he always looked or if the fire had exhausted him.

My fingers traced a line down his arm until they reached his hand. I grasped it tightly and rubbed circles with my thumb. The warmth of his skin seeped into mine and my blood pounded through my veins.

“Wake up,” I whispered. “You need to wake up.”

Except for Gabby, I’d been alone for most of my life and all of my adulthood. I’d only known Will for a few weeks. And yet, I couldn’t imagine losing him. I rubbed the middle of my chest; an ache was building deep inside my heart.

I pulled a chair over and sat down, laying my head on his chest. The beating of his heart lulled me and I closed my eyes.

For the first time in a very long time, I prayed.

Please God. Let him be Ok.

I wasn’t sure if his brothers had left because they never entered his room while I was there. I was thankful they didn’t see my tears.

I sniffed and closed my eyes as I listened to Will’s soft breathing and the beeping of the machine.

Just as the doctor walked into the room, I felt something rustle my hair. Was it the breeze?

“I’m sorry, miss, but you have to leave now.”

I nodded and wiped the wetness from my eyes.

I turned to look at Will one more time, asleep on the bed. I refused to think it was anything other than that.

15

Christina

I stood in an empty black hole with mirrors all around me. With the tip of my shoe, I touched the black water at my feet. A ripple tore through the floor and led down through a river of nothingness. “Hello?” I called out and my voice echoed in the darkness.

A chill ran through me and I rubbed my arms for warmth.

Where am I?

I stood all alone in the darkness with no one around me but reflections of myself. Inexplicably, the reflection didn’t mirror the black dress I wore or my shoulder-length hair. In the first mirror to my left, I wore pigtails. I was about twelve years old. In the next, I was fifteen, and in each subsequent mirror, I became a little older until the last one reflected a withered and wrinkled face with deeply sad eyes.

But in all of them, I was alone. There was no one I could turn to but myself.

“Christina,” someone whispered beside me. It was a man’s voice, and I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands.

Slowly, I opened them and saw Will’s long brown hair brush against his jawline. As he pushed his hair back with his fingers, his lips tugged into a sheepish grin. “Did I wake you?”

It was obvious that he had, but I was so happy to see him, I couldn’t be angry.

But Will was in the hospital. Was I still dreaming? Did he now haunt my subconscious?

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