Page 54 of Choose Me

"What did you do to him?"

"I thought you could use some company," she said with a twisted grin. She grabbed another set of chains off the ground and restrained his wrists before stepping away from his unconscious body.

"You're sick," I spat out, my voice shaking with fear.

Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at me. "I'm not sick. I'm doing this for your own good, you fucking little whore."

"My own good? What are you talking about?"

"You don't want to eat and nourish my baby, so I am motivating you." She gestured toward Everett, her eyes filled with sinister pleasure. "See, I can be compassionate. But what I am not is patient. And you are testing my last fucking nerve."

"I'll never give you my baby," I growled.

Rage contorted her features until it burned in her eyes like wildfire. "That's fine then," she sneered. "Then I'll slit his throat and cut my baby out of your stomach right now." She pulled a knife from the small of her back and walked toward Everett.

"No!" I screamed and threw myself over his body, shielding him with my trembling frame.

"Then you will do what I tell you to when I tell you," she growled viciously, her face flooding with loathing as her gaze drilled into me. "If you step one toe out of line, I will kill him slowly and make you watch. And then I will take my baby and leave you here bleeding out, where no one will find you. Are we fucking clear?" Her voice dripped with venom as she leaned closer to my face, emphasizing each word with a menacing glare.

A silent sob escaped me as I nodded, hot tears streaming down my face. "Crystal."

"We're going to be the best of friends, you and I," she purred before slamming the door shut and locking it behind her.

I turned my attention to Everett's motionless body, "Everett, wake up," I whispered. "Please, Everett."

I managed to drag his body onto the mattress, grunting under his dead weight with every movement. After a few minutes, I finally had his body on the mattress and put a pillow behind his head.

I moved closer to him and placed my head on his chest in search of a heartbeat.

No heartbeat.

No pulse.

No chest movement.

"Oh my God, Everett," I pleaded, shaking his arm. "Everett, please wake up. You can't leave me. Please."

My heart sunk in my chest, and my stomach clenched with dread. I started doing compressions on his chest.

One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine...ten...fuck, how many am I supposed to do?

Thirty, right?..twenty-five...twenty-six...twenty-seven...twenty-eight...twenty-nine...thirty…

I pulled deep into my memory of an old CPR class I had taken, praying that it was accurate enough to get his heart pumping again.

Two rescue breaths.

With trembling hands, I grasped his chin and tilted his head back, sealing my lips to his with one desperate breath.

Still not breathing.

I tried again, inhaling deeply before pressing my mouth against his again.

"If you wanted to kiss me, you could have just told me, baby girl." Everett choked out weakly from beneath my lips.

I jumped back in shock, smacking his chest hard before realizing what I had done."You're an asshole."

"Oh God, that was too hard." he groaned.

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