Out of Breath (Breathing, #3)(89)

‘No,’ I answered quickly. ‘For you … I mean …’ I clenched my teeth with a grimace at the inadvertent honesty. Hoping she was too out of it to pick up on it, I continued, ‘I was only gone for a couple of days, and now I’m back. Okay?’

‘Okay,’ she answered in an exhausted breath, and repeated with a hint of a smile, ‘You didn’t leave.’

The side of my lip crept up at the relief on her face. ‘No, I didn’t leave.’ I ran my hand along the side of her cheek; fine salt brushed off her skin onto my fingertips.

‘There’s some of that water with electrolytes in the fridge,’ Nate told TJ, who went to retrieve it.

TJ offered her the bottle of water, and her trembling hands couldn’t open it.

I took it from her and twisted the cap off before handing it back. She pressed her face against the leather couch and took small, slow sips.

I stood up to talk to Nate, who was standing at the end of the couch. ‘Do you really think she’ll be okay?’ I murmured, glancing down at her. Before he could answer, I exclaimed, ‘What the hell?!’

The bottoms of her feet were red and raw, and there was blood splattered on the back of her leg from a cut on her heel.

‘I called a friend for advice,’ Nate said. ‘One of the girls I race with, she’s in her last year of nursing school. I sent Ren to pick up Popsicles and some more drinks with electrolytes. I know you’re worried. But I think she’ll be fine. I mean, she’s going to be sore as f*ck tomorrow, but I’ve seen worse at the marathons I’ve run.’

‘I’m not sure that made me feel better, Nate,’ I answered curtly.

Emma sat on a chair, sucking on a Popsicle. She was showered and dressed in random guys’ clothes – Nate’s T-shirt, my shorts and TJ’s zip-up hoodie. The glazed look was gone from her eyes, and she was more alert.

‘Let me see your feet,’ I requested, with the towel on my lap and the medical supplies on the table next to me.

Emma eased her feet out of the bucket of water they’d been soaking in and gingerly placed them on my lap.

‘What flavour is that?’ TJ asked Emma from across the table, sucking on a yellow Popsicle.

‘Berry,’ she told him. ‘What do you have?’

‘Pineapple. Want a lick?’

‘TJ,’ I scolded.

‘Hey, I was just offering to share,’ he defended, making Emma laugh. The perfect sound. One that I wished I heard more often.

Before I could begin cleaning and bandaging the cuts on her feet, my phone vibrated. I grimaced as soon as I saw Sara’s name, feeling bad for not calling her sooner.

‘Hey, Sara,’ I answered hesitantly.

‘Guilty much, Evan? Thanks for calling,’ she snipped, making me feel worse. ‘Did you see Emma?’

‘Yeah,’ I responded. ‘She’s here. You can talk to her.’

I handed Emma my phone and doused the gauze in alcohol.

‘Hi,’ I answered, ‘Shit! Evan, that frickin’ hurts!’ I yanked my foot out of his hand.

‘Emma? What the hell is he doing?’ Sara demanded on the other end of the phone.

‘I have to clean it, Emma,’ Evan shot back, grabbing my ankle. ‘I’ll be gentle.’

He started dabbing the open cuts, and I hollered in pain, tugging my foot from his hand. ‘It feels like you’re using battery acid and sandpaper.’

‘Emma!’ Sara yelled, fighting for my attention.

‘What do you expect if you’re going to run a marathon in bare feet,’ Evan shot back. ‘Give me your foot.’

‘At least wait until I’m off the phone,’ I begged, setting it back on the towel on his lap.

‘Fine,’ he said, setting his torture device on the table.

‘Sorry. I’m here,’ I said into the phone.

‘Are you going to tell me what’s going on?’ Sara demanded, beyond frustrated.

I looked down at my lap and twisted my hand in the cuff of the sweatshirt. ‘You left. Evan left. Cole left. So … I went for a run. A very long run, and now I’m paying for it,’ I explained simply. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Evan’s head turn in my direction.

‘Cole left?’ Sara repeated. ‘Oh, wow. And you didn’t know that Evan went to San Francisco for a couple of days?’

‘No,’ I murmured, unable to raise my eyes from my lap as Evan sat across from me, patiently waiting to resume torturing me.

‘I’m so sorry, Emma. I should have brought you with me. I know you wanted to come, but I thought the last place that you should be was another funeral. They suck. But I really do wish you were here. My family’s seriously unbalanced,’ Sara groaned, making me laugh. ‘Are you okay, really? Because from the sounds of it, it was an insane run.’

‘Life-altering.’

‘Umm … okay,’ Sara replied, sounding confused. ‘So we need to find another place to stay for the next month, huh?’

‘That would be best,’ I agreed. ‘Nate knows this real-estate agent, so we’re meeting her in the morning to check out a couple of places.’

‘Great. Tell me what you find. Evan’s going with you, right?’

‘That’s the plan,’ I said.