Page 17 of Hunted, Season Three

What if she’s already dead?

Tears bind together in my throat, creating a knot of fear and horror that’s not only impossible to swallow, but stops me from being able to get the tiniest amount of air into my lungs.Deep gasps precede heavy pounds to my chest as anxiety and apprehension mutate into an unstoppable weight determined to park themselves permanently right on top of my airway.

She can’t die.

I can’t lose her too.

I don’t wanna lose her.

I don’t wanna lose our family.

“Kid,” Nolan airily croaks, dropping the small, black emergency bag near our feet in order to cup both sides of my face, “look at me.”

I can’t stop my head from rapidly shaking.

Knees from knocking together.

Body from threatening to collapse.

“You gotta breathe, Kid,” he desperately demands.“You gotta stay awake.”

“Wh-wh,” leaves me in airy whine, words too painful to complete outside my own mind.

“Fuck that,” the man I can’t live without grumbles and grips my face tighter.“Get focused.”He boldly invades my space.“We gotta get to Rabbit and our baby boy.”

There’s no stopping my eyebrows from darting down.“But what if they’re-”

“They’re not.”

“But-”

“They’re.Not.”

“How do you know!?”

“Because we’d feel it here.”He firmly pats me on top of my heart.“Right.Fucking.Here.”

To my surprise, the trembling in my jaw doesn’t stop me from eagerly nodding.

He’s right.

Again.

We’d…know…if they were…gone.

It’s just one of those things we’d feel.

Like when your car suddenly just “drives” differently.

You can’t quite put it into words, but you know that it is.

You know that something’s off.

You know because of that check engine light inside of you that only you understand.

That’s what he’s talking about.

That’s how he knows she’s still out there.

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