Winter forced herself to inhale slowly. Gasping for air everytime pain shot up her spine only made things worse and, now more than ever, she needed to be in control.
Her hallucinations seemed to be over or, at least the throbbing in her leg was keeping her grounded. Gritting her teeth, Winter stretched her arm out. Her cellphone had fallen just out of reach and her fingertips just brushed the edge. That only managed to push her phone even farther and Winter felt a wave of despair wash over her.
This was all her fault. If she had been more careful—hell, if she'd never gone to the hospital in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. She knew Aimery would eventually find out, knew that it would come to this. And now, not only was she getting what had been coming for her, but Jacin might as well. If she knew Aimery at all…
It was starting to get dark. The childish fear of being alone in the dark began to creep up on her and Winter wasn't sure if she had the strength to get through the night.
Sucking in a lungful of air, Winter used everything she had left to shift herself over and grab her cellphone. It was agonizing. The slightest movement had her crying out, and by the time she got a hold of her phone, she was a mess. It ended up taking her a few minutes to calm down enough just to stop the shaking in her hands.
Finally, Winter impatiently wiped her eyes and managed to send a text to Aimery. He'd left before he could see what state she was in, but if she told him, begged him to come help, Winter was certain Aimery wouldn't just leave her.
Moments passed. Seconds turned to minutes and Winter felt her panic rising with the ticking time. There wasn't even any indication that Aimery had seen her message.
This was it. This was the worst way to get to her and he knew it.
Winter clenched her teeth together and swallowed a scream. This was all her fault! How could have been so stupid? How could she have allowed it get so far? She deserved every last bit of anger from Aimery, because despite everything, she had felt something for Jacin and now she was paying for it. She would never see him again.
Her nerves were on edge and Winter wasn't sure if she could take much more. Everything hurt like hell and it was getting darker and she was all alone—
In a brief moment of wild panic, Winter dialled Ze'ev's number and swallowed her tears.
"Hello?" Hearing his rough voice over the receiver made her feel the smallest bit better.
"Hey, Ze'ev," Winter said thickly, almost bursting into tears, and quickly cleared her throat. "I, um, need a favour."
There was some shuffling in the background. "What's going on? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, uh—" Her hands started to shake again and Winter forced herself to take a deep breath. "Actually, funny thing—I fell down some stairs. Could you come get me? If-if you're not busy." She added the last part quietly, trying to downplay the seriousness, but she desperately hoped he wouldn't say no.
"What? Wow, Winter, how hard did you fall to make me come get you?"
There was a warm, teasing tone to his voice. She closed her eyes, imagining she was anywhere but there. "Sorry, is-is this a bad time?"
"Of course not," Ze'ev said dismissively, "Just tell me where you are. I'll come right now."
Winter felt the relief overwhelm her. "Thanks, so much. I-I'm at Aimery's."
There was a pause and Winter tightened the hold on her phone. "Ze'ev—?"
"I'll be there in ten." There was a sudden calm in his voice. Her heart rate sped up at the words he didn't say.
"Wait, Ze—"
To her dismay, only the dial tone sounded. This wasn't good. Ze'ev had always disliked Aimery, that much was clear. And despite her protests, he could somehow tell that not everything was as great as she insisted.
And now it was only a matter of time before he put two and two together. Winter's stomach dropped at the thought, the sudden realization that everything would be exposed, leaving her alone with her crushing shame.
Ze'ev wouldn't stand for this, and he would definitely make the choice that she didn't have the courage to do. Dread and anxiety mixed in her chest, pressing down on her lungs until she was sure she was suffocating.
Waves of panic were crashing onto her and she was buried deeper and deeper, the walls closing tighter. There was no good outcome, no possible way for this to end well, no chance that it would work out. Even if Ze'ev let them be, Aimery would never forgive her for this, and would never let her forget. The erratic pulse of pain in her leg dragged her farther down as she realized that the dark spots in her vision were handfuls of dirt and she couldn't climb her way out, not with everything hurting so much and she was losing and falling and—
"Winter? Aces and spades!"
There was someone there, but it was getting harder to breathe, the dirt filling her mouth everytime she opened it and she couldn't see, but her arms scrambled for something to hold onto—
"Breathe, slowly… In and out... Come on now… in and out... In and out..."
There was a sudden pressure on her chest and she focused on that, filling her lungs with air, doing her best not to choke.
"That's it, breathe. Winter, I'm here now. Just breathe."
The dirt cleared after a few minutes, or maybe it was never really there, and Winter clutched at the hand on her chest, squeezing it to anchor herself to reality. Blinking away the tears in her eyes, Winter squinted up at Aimery, who was looking down at her with a frown.
"We're going to have to get you to a hospital," he said finally, "And I'll have to talk to your doctor because whatever he's subscribing you is clearly not helping."
Winter didn't answer, still trying to focus on her breathing. Her head was clearing, trying to regroup after whatever nightmare she just lived through, but there was something tugging at her that was wrong, wrong, wrong.
"I'll have to call an ambulance," Aimery said, and Winter winced at his tone, or maybe just at the pain shooting up her leg, "It's better not to move you."
Aimery pulled out his phone, letting go of her hand. She missed his warmth the moment he let go, but Winter didn't open her mouth to say so.
The chime of the doorbell sounded, echoing through the house.
Ze'ev slammed his fist against the door, using all of his self-control to stop himself from breaking down the door. He's had it with Winter's excuses and protests that everything was fine, fine. It clearly wasn't and he hated himself for not doing anything about it earlier.
He'd known that Aimery was involved with the lowest of scum in their city, which pointed to the inevitability that he was, too. He'd always had a sneaking suspicion that there was something Winter was keeping from him and her phone call had confirmed everything he'd been thinking these past few months. Ze'ev didn't know why she had been protecting Aimery all this time, but it was finally the last straw.
"Open the door!" Ze'ev called out, banging against the small window. Scarlet stood off to the side as she pressed the doorbell again, giving him the space he desperately needed. With every second that ticked by, he was getting more and more tempted to just break it and open the door himself. Seriously, what was taking so—
"Ze'ev?"
Aimery was pulling open the door, an irritated look on his face.
"Where is she?" Ze'ev said, clenching his teeth in an attempt to keep his fist out of the man's face.
"What the hell is it to you?" Aimery asked, eyes narrowing.
"Listen here, you son of a—"
"Aimery," Scarlet said, placing a hand on Ze'ev's shoulder, holding him back. "Just tell us where she is. Don't make us involve the police."
"Please, if you don't call them, I will," Aimery said, a vein pulsing in his forehead. "This is my property and trespassing—"
"Spare me." Ze'ev pushed past him into the hallway. Something crunched underneath his boots and, looking down, he noticed glass shattered on the floor. A broken vase was lying in a puddle of water, flowers strewn around it. "What the hell...?"
"Fuck you, Kesley!" Aimery shouted, slamming the door against the wall, "Get the fuck out of my house!"
Ze'ev was practically shaking in rage himself. He could picture the scene, with Aimery yelling and smashing the vase on the ground, pushing Winter away until she fell.
"Did you call an ambulance?" Scarlet demanded, taking in the scene herself.
Aimery turned to her, eyes blazing. "Listen, Red, I don't—"
"Get away from her," Ze'ev growled, fists clenched at his sides. There was very little keeping him from slamming into Aimery and beating the shit out of him.
"I'm calling the police, you hear me?" Aimery said, fuming, "And I'm going to make sure you both go to hell."
Ze'ev ignored him, turning around to continue down the hall. There was more wreckage the farther he got, more things smashed and shattered.
"Winter?" Scarlet called out, right behind him. Ze'ev hated that she came with him, wanting nothing more than for her to have stayed back, but Scarlet wouldn't listen.
They heard a cough and, after looking at each other briefly, they hurried to the stairs at the end of the hallway, where Ze'ev saw her at the bottom. Winter opened her eyes and smiled.
"Hey, Ze'ev," Winter said weakly, "I knew you'd make it.
"Winter, what…
He couldn't continue. Ze'ev couldn't believe what he was seeing. Winter, the strongest woman he knew, the one that had been with him through the unimaginable, the person that had been his only family since he was a kid, was lying half-conscious at the bottom of a monster's stairs. Her broken form was trembling and Ze'ev could make out the unnatural twist of her leg. It took his eyes a second to adjust to the darkness, but he realized that she was lying in a pool of blood.
"Winter." Scarlet rushed down the stairs with Ze'ev at her heels, and carefully kneeled next to her. Blood seeped into her jeans, staining the kneecaps a dark red, but she didn't even notice. "Winter, oh my—"
"You guys doesn't need to worry," Winyer whispered, weakly grabbing onto her arm, "Aimery's got me. I just thought that… that maybe…"
"I called. The police are on their way."
Ze'ev looked up to find Aimery at the top of the stairs, his face contorted in fury. He glanced at Winter with disdain, which only infuriated Ze'ev more.
"Then leave," Ze'ev said, his voice rough as he turned to Winter.
She looked back at him, panic swimming in her wide eyes. "Ze'ev, no."
"Excuse me?" Aimery descended part way down the stairs. "What the fuck did you just say to me?"
Ze'ev grinded his teeth together, slowly standing up. "I told you to leave."
"No, Ze'ev, please." Winter was grasping at his pants, tears forming in her eyes. "Please, just listen to me."
"Are you shitting me right now?" Aimery came down the last few steps until he was directly above Ze'ev. "Are you seriously telling me to leave my own house? And what, just entrust Winter to you?"
Ze'ev turned around, fists clenched as he faced Aimery. "She'll be better off with me than she ever was with you. Now, go."
Aimery's eyes flashed dangerously and, before either of them could blink, he pulled out a gun. Scarlet gasped, holding onto Winter's hands tightly. "Like hell—"
Something snapped inside of Ze'ev and he grabbed the gun by the barrel. He smashed it into the wall, just inches from Aimery's face. The wooden panel splintered beneath the force of his fist, effectively cutting off whatever Aimery was about to say. Winter was crying behind him, pleading with Ze'ev to just listen to her for one second, to just please listen to her, but he didn't turn around.
"Now you better listen to what I'm saying," Ze'ev snarled, leaning in close to Aimery so that he could hear every word, "I never want to even think about you again, you hear? I don't care what pathetic excuses you come up with, I don't want to hear you contact Winter in any way. If I ever see your disgusting fucking face again, you are going to wish that you were six feet under. So before I tear you to pieces with my bare hands, you better leave and never. Come. Back."
Aimery's face remained cool under his stare, not even flinching as Ze'ev pulled his hand out of the wall and dropped the gun. It clattered to the floor. That was the sound he focused on. Ze'ev couldn't bear listening to Winter in hysterics as she pleaded with Aimery to stay.
But Aimery didn't even blink as he leaned toward Ze'ev. "As impressive as that was, it takes a lot more than a hole in my wall to scare me. Now how about you get the fuck away from me and think hard about what exactly you're next move is, because, as I see it, you're going to be in some deep shit."
In the distance, sirens sounded, gradually getting louder as they neared. Winter cried out, and after a moment of staring Aimery down, Ze'ev turned back to her.
"We're here, Winter," Scarlet said, gently pushing the curls off of Winter's forehead. "We're going to get through this."
Ze'ev closed his eyes, listening to her and desperately hoping she was right.