Page 3 of Fallen Empire
All I could see was Savannah.
Still. Silent. Collapsed on the ground because the devil had finally won.
My body wouldn’t move. My breath caught somewhere between panic and disbelief. I stood frozen, trapped in the moment. Blinking without seeing, breathing without air.
That image is seared into me now.
Not just her body lying there... but the sound that came from Jaxson.
It wasn’t grief. Not really.
It was the kind of scream that only comes when something deep inside you snaps.
Raw. Animal. Terrifying.
For a second, I thought I had just watched the end of a war.
But the truth settled deeper, colder.
That moment didn’t end anything.
It started everything.
That was four days ago.
Four days since I watched her fall. Since I watched her body collapse to the ground, lifeless, like something sacred had been stolen right in front of me.
Four damn days of pacing hospital hallways, praying to a God I wasn’t even sure I believed in anymore.
They’d rushed her into surgery. I still wasn’t sure how Ben was able to get emergency personnel there so quickly. But I was thankful, so I didn’t ask.
Jaxson had blood on his hands—literally. And not one of us could speak.
Now, the world has gone quiet.
The headlines were loud, but in this room? Silence.
Because of one inch.
One inch.
The bullet missed her heart by one inch.
“She’s strong,” the nurse whispered earlier. I wanted to believe her. God, I wanted to believe her. But how do you believe in strength when the strongest person you know hasn’t opened her eyes in days?
I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat.
Worse… I hated looking at Jaxson.
I couldn’t be there for him. Because I didn’t know how to be there for myself.
Ben tried to make me leave.
Not gently. Not like a friend. With tight eyes and clenched fists—like seeing me in this hospital room was a personal betrayal.
I knew he was still pissed that I was there that day. Pissed I saw it. Pissed I witnessed what he never wanted me to see. What he worked his whole life to shield people from.
And maybe, just maybe… still pissed that the one night between us meant more to him than it ever should have.
