Page 63 of Freeing Emily

Silence.

I knock again.

When I’m greeted with more silence, I reach for the doorknob. It twists easily and I push inside.

Emily is seated with her back to me as she stares outside her window. Her hand moves rapidly against the outside of her thigh. Her posture is rigid, and I can hear her shallow, panicked breaths.

“Emily?”

She doesn’t react to my voice or presence. Her hand continues to move in jerky yet quick movements.

Something is wrong. The atmosphere in this room is dark and depressing. It’s suffocating and makes the collar of my shirt feel too tight. I pull at the material and try to breathe through the smothering sensation.

My steps are muffled from the plush carpeting, but I try to make some noise, so she knows I’m here. I don’t want to put her into a panic.

“Féileacán?”

I peer down at her hand and see the blood that is spread over her fingertips and that gaping wound that is in her thigh.

“Emily, stop.” I reach for her shoulder, and she jumps with a shriek.

She falls from her chair with a loudthudand pushes herself up against the wall. She slaps her hands over her ears and her eyes are closed.

“You’re not real. You’re not real. You’re not real.” She mutters under her breath and my heart breaks.

“It’s me, Emily. It’s Liam.”

She shakes her head, her face scrunched in pain.

Blood runs down the side of her thigh and stains the white carpet.

I kneel in front of her. My heart constricting in my chest so tightly, it’s physically painful. Her face is pale, sweat lines her temples causing the hairs to stick to her skin.

“Baby… You’re okay. You’re home.” I whisper, trying to coax her out of where her mind has taken her.

She pauses and then peers up at me. Her eyes are haunted and glazed over.

“L-Liam?” she whispers. She’s looking at me yet notseeing meas being truly here.

“I’m here, Em.”

“Please don’t leave me again. I don’t want to be alone.” Her lip quivers and she chokes out a sob.

“I’m not going anywhere, baby,” I whisper and scoot closer.

“I don’t want to die here.”

Pain unlike anything I’ve ever known saturates my soul and starts to pull it apart thread by thread.

“Féileacán, you’re home. You’re not trapped anymore.” I try to keep my voice from shaking but it’s nearly impossible.

My beautiful Emily is shattering before my eyes, and I can’t stop it.

She closes her eyes and slowly shakes her head.

I reach out and push a strand of her hair behind her ear and she flinches. When she opens her eyes again, they’re wide and clear.

“Liam?”

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