Page 138 of The Assignment: Room 3

“His office was several stories above the point of impact. There was no way out.”

“Shut up. Why are you saying these things?” My grandmother reaches for me, but I shrug from her grasp. I back myself into the corner as if I can make it all stop if I move away from the devastation. “He’s not dead. He’s not. He got out,” I scream.

“Your dad called me, Felix,” my grandmother says in a hoarse whisper. “I spoke with him and your mother.”

“Where is my mom? If he died, she’d be here with us. She wouldn’t let you tell me without her. I want my mom. Call her. Call her now.”

“She was with your dad, Felix. She was in World Trade Center One.”

The wall behind me is all that holds me as I crumple to the floor. They’re wrong. They have to be wrong.

I curl in on myself, hugging my knees to my chest. My whole world spins on its axis and detonates around me.

Chapter 27

HELENA

“I’m so sorry, Master Navarro. Please, you have to wake up. You have to.” I sit back on my knees, uncontrollable sobs escaping me as I take in the sight before me.

“How long has he been in a coma? How long was I out?”

Freya is by my side, wrapping her arm around me. “It’s been two weeks.”

Screaming fills the room, shrill, blood-curdling, and coming from me.

“No… no… Gracie. Master. I can’t do this without you. Please don’t die.” My shoulders shake as I cast my eyes to the floor. I’m not leaving this position until he comes back to me. I ran through this hospital, my body fighting me the entire time, but to walk into this is more than I can handle. There are only so many times in life that you can be knocked down and pick yourself back up. I have no more fight left.

I’ve failed Gracie, leaving her to grieve without her mommy for two weeks. I certainly failed Flex. If I had just trusted him enough to tell my full history, things might have been different. I don’t know where to go from here. I can’t go back to my old house after what I witnessed that night. I could never raise Gracie in that house. Homeis where a child should feel safe. Instead, she saw her mom beat up by a man she’d never met before being bound and gagged.

Freya rests her hand on my shoulder as I cry out, begging God to bring him back to me. Flex looks gaunt. He must have lost at least ten pounds in the last two weeks. He has IVs in both arms, wires hooked up to pads on various areas of his body, and a breathing tube in his mouth. His beautiful smile is no more.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t. I don’t want to. I can’t… I can’t.” I begin to shake uncontrollably, overwhelmed by loss all over again. Flex’s leg is bandaged where Michael shot him. There was just so much blood—more than I’ve ever seen.

I saw a lot of messed-up shit when I was with Michael, but I saw his face blown out by Flex’s bullet. One minute, he was there, holding me hostage, and the next, his life had ended in the time it takes to pull a trigger. Gone.

And then Flex?—

“I did everything I could,” I mumble repeatedly, rocking back and forth. “I couldn’t stop the blood. His heart stopped. I did what I could. So much blood. He said goodbye. Gracie. I did this to Gracie. To all of you. It was my fault. My fault.” My mind races with a barrage of thoughts and memories, and simultaneously, I feel trapped in this moment as if it could span an eternity.

“Pierce, what do I do?” Freya sounds worried.

“I’m going to page psych. I’ll be right back.” I hear the door close, but I don’t look up. I can’t risk getting another glimpse of Flex. My heart can’t take the pain.

“You have to stop this, Helena. Flex wouldn’t want…”

“Flex wants to live. He wants to breathe on his own. To walk on two legs. To be Gracie’s daddy. I took that from her. From him. He was her hero. He died a hero. My fault. Too much. He’ll never wake up.”

Freya braces her hands on my shoulders. “Snap out of it, Helena. He needs to hear your voice speaking with hope and positivity. You can’t sit here flagellating yourself.”

“Don’t let them take me, Freya. I need to be here. Don’t let Pierce have me carted away. I need to be here with Flex. I have tobe. I let him walk into battle for me without any of the information that could have kept him safe. Who does that? A fuckup. Me.”

“He knew before he walked into the room that day.”

“What?” My eyes find hers. “How?”

“He had Jenna identify Michael, and she found that Celest Monroe didn’t exist four years ago. Heknew, and he still came for you. Flex loves you more than life itself. You can’t give up on him now.”

“It hurts.” Tortured, strangled cries flow out of me in an unstoppable wave of emotion. “It hurts. It hurts. He died. His heart stopped beating. It hurts. Make it stop, Freya. Please, make it stop.”

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