Page 177 of There's No Us Without You
I can’t breathe.My chest hurts. My heart is slamming against my ribcage at a rampant rate.
The hot, humid air hits me in the face with the force of a wind turbine when I rush outside and head straight for the garden out the front of the house. Night has fallen, the sun now dippedbelow the horizon, and I trip over my own feet before falling to my knees.
My stomach convulses, and I bend over, hands on the grass, as I gag and retch until whatever I’ve eaten today projectiles out of my mouth.
All my muscles shake and vibrate, my arms just barely keeping me from face-planting into my own vomit. Tears leak from my eyes as my stomach releases everything. After a few moments of nothing but bile and water, I fall onto my back on the grass, chest heaving.
What the fuck did I just do? I was possessed. I’ve never felt so much anger in my entire life, but that still doesn’t excuse what I did to Eden.
It’s not her fault I’m in this position.
A sob rips from my throat and I cover my face with my hands, unable to hold my emotions back any longer.
How did I get here?
And how far would I have taken it if Will didn’t pull me off Eden when he did?
Oh god.
My stomach convulses again, sending another round of burning liquid rushing up my oesophagus. I turn my head and cough just in time for the next round of bile to spew onto the ground. I wipe my face with the back of my hand and roll onto my side to climb to my feet.
My hands are cold and clammy as I pull my car keys from my pocket, and they slip from my grasp, smashing onto the concrete driveway, the sound echoing in the quiet street.
“Fuck’s sake.” I snatch them up before unlocking the car and climbing inside.
The last thing I should be doing is driving, but as I sink into the seat and scrub my hands over my face, I try to suck in as many deep breaths as I can. My heart is beating so hard, mypulse is thrumming in my ears, and thewhoosh whooshmakes my stomach churn again.
My sports bag is still sitting in the passenger seat, so I snatch a fresh T-shirt from inside it and change shirts, using the dirty one to clean myself up. Next, I take some hand sanitiser and rub it over my hands and up my arms.
Tyler was lying. He has to be, right?
My hands shake as I bring up Brady’s number. I need to hear it from him. There are only five doses left—I lost most of them this morning when Eden barged in on me and they scattered onto the floor and down the sink. I need to convince him to give me just enough to cover the next couple of weeks.
Then I’m done.
I promise.
A female voice answers the phone. “Emerson?”
I frown. “Gabby? What the hell are you doing answering Brady’s phone?”
She clears her throat, the noise in the background disappearing. “He’s... busy right now.”
“Fuck.” I shove a hand through my hair and smash the back of my head against the headrest. “Can you please get him to ring me when he’s notbusy?”
Gabby is quiet for a moment, and I pull the phone away from my ear to make sure the call is still connected.
“Hello?”
“Maybe I can help you,” she says finally, her voice just above a whisper.
“What?”
“I know what happened. Tyler was here, carrying on. We can make it our little secret.”
Don’t do it.
My right leg bounces as I contemplate Gabby’s offer.
