He approached me and tore out the rag in my mouth allowing me to speak. If this was the only chance I got to speak tonight, I would make it count for something. Yes, Maxon was in a horrible state. But at least he could move. I made my words very clear and pleading, "Please," I panted, "Please. Aspen… he can't move. He can't handle it…" I let out a small burst of tears before continuing, "Please, let me replace him. Don't make him go through this, your Majesty. P-please!" I looked over at Maxon, expecting to see a look of disappointment. I had just asked to spare Aspen and not my future husband. He must hate me. But instead, he wore a look of pride. He nodded and gave me a small, assuring smile, telling me that I had made the right decision.
Clarkson bellowed a devilish laugh that echoed throughout the small, empty room, "So, Aspen's the name." He walked over to Aspen and held his head up with his hands underneath Aspen's chin. Aspen glared back with an icy glint in his eyes. I could see a slight flinch in his hands, as if he wanted to ball them up into fists and sack Clarkson right in the nose. And, oh goodness, how I wanted him to. I balled my hands up behind my fists for him, as if it was going to do anything. Aspen's mouth opened and he spoke with a cold commanding voice that even scared me. "Don't. Touch. Her."
Clarkson dropped his head down again, as he let go of his chin. He walked over to me, with an evil grin spread across his dimly lit face. The only reason I could see him was because of the small orange-yellow light in the farthest corner of the room, which wasn't that far, since the room was tiny. He signaled to a guard, who I didn't even know was there until that second, to untie my bands. I could feel his hands against mine as he brought his lips to my ear. He cut the rope tying my hands together.
"I'm here to help," he breathed. I sucked in my breath as he spoke. I tried not to let happy tears spill out of my eyes as I looked over at Aspen and Maxon. I had no clue who this person was, or if should trust them or not, but I didn't care. Anything that might get us out of here would automatically be trusted.
The guard stood me up and walked me over to Clarkson, and let me go. I went with my instincts and ran to Aspen, surprised nobody tried to hold me back. I lifted his head in my hands and kissed his warm cheek. I looked into his deep sea green eyes. They were so beautiful. My eyes wandered to his wet lips. I wondered what it would be life to kiss them again. My eyes met his again, "Aspen. I'm going to get you out of here, I promise. Can you move at all yet?" I whispered into his ear. He just looked at me and shook his head.
"Mer?" He whispered. I brought my ear to his lips, wondering what he wanted to say.
"Mer, I'm sorry you have to see me like this. I wanted to be strong for you, and I never was. You always had to take care of me. Please. Let me handle this. I don't think I could ever watch you get hurt because of me." I looked at him again, taken aback. My eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Hot tears spilled down my face in and endless streak, as I took a step back.
"Aspen, you make everything so hard!" I yelled. In the corner of my eye I could see even Clarkson jump in shock. I raked my hands through my hair, gripping the roots and tugging on them, but careful not to rip them out. I looked over at Maxon, then settled my eyes on Aspen again.
"I loved y-you! Then you left me, and I fell in love with the most amazing g-guy," I stuttered, looking at Maxon, "A-and now I'm falling for you a-again" At that statement I could see Maxon's face fall into a deep sadness. My heart was being torn into two, and my mind was all jumbled up. I didn't know what to do, so I just fell to my knees and broke down sobbing, covering my face with my hands, and soft tears trickled down from them onto the concrete floor. The room was silent for at least a minute.
Until I heard footsteps coming toward me, a loud thud, and a heavy body collapsing to the floor. I lifted my head and turned around. I let out a small gasp, temporarily stopping my tears. Clarkson laid sprawled unconscious on the floor right behind me, and standing above him was the guard. I could see a bit of his face now. He was light-skinned, and his eyes were a glistening icy blue. His dirty blonde hair draped a bit over his forehead, a perfect mess, just like Maxon's was. He was surprisingly very attractive. I gaped, then shook my head back into the moment. I began to cry again, running over to him.
"Thank y-you." I wrapped my arms around him and took fistfulls of his shirt into my hands, grasping him tightly. "Thank you, Officer."
He squeezed me, then pulled me back, looking into my eyes. "It's Jay. And you're welcome, Miss Singer."
I laughed at the formality of my name, "America. It's America." I gazed into his eyes as he gazed back into mine for a moment, and I got lost in the deep sea of his blue eyes. There was something mysterious lurking around in them. I was deep in thought until Maxon cleared his throat, "Um… a little help here please."
My eyes widened. I let go of Jay and ran over to Maxon, pulling at his chains, with no use. I stepped aside as Jay walked up to Maxon and bowed, "Your Highness." Maxon dipped his head slightly to show acceptance, "Maxon." He said as Jay pulled out a key and unlocked both of his hands with a small click. As soon as Maxon was free, He pulled me into him, dipping me into a fierce kiss.
My hands grasped his hair and shirt as his grasped mine. When he finally let me go, tears were falling down my cheeks again. He brought his hands up and slowly wiped them off my delicate cheeks as he gazed deeply into my eyes. I could have stood there looking at his perfect face for hours, but a sharp gasp from beside me shook me back into the present.
Both mine and Maxon's head turned to see Aspen breathing deeply, struggling for air. "Jay!" I screamed, "get him out!" Jay ran over to Aspen, and hurriedly unlocked his chains, making Aspen collapse onto the floor, and as soon as he was able to use his hands, he clutched his left side, groaning. His whole body was shaking, and his skin felt cold and clammy to the touch. I lifted his head into my lap, looking at Jay and Maxon.
"W-what's going on?" I sobbed with pleading eyes. Jay ran over with Maxon closely behind. Jay crouched down and tapped on different places on Aspen's chest. "He was suspended in the air too long. I think part of his lung may have collapsed, and he's going into shock." He took Aspen from me and rolled him on his side, allowing him more air. With every single intake of air, Aspen groaned in pain. His lung collapsed? Going into shock? What does that mean? Can we just hurry and fix it, or is he going to… NO. Do not think like that, America. I thought to myself. He's going to be fine.
I stood up, reaching for Maxon. Maxon gripped me tightly as we watched Jay push on Aspen's chest, I assumed to give him air. Aspen was groaning a lot louder now, and it physically pained me to hear it. I squeezed Maxon harder.
"America, it's going to be okay. Jay seems like he knows what he's doing." He reassured me. A look of confusion crossed his face. He spoke louder, to be heard over Aspen's growing groans. "Jay, how come my lung didn't collapse? I was up there just as long as Aspen." Jay spoke, not looking up.
"Aspen wasn't able to move, so he had no muscle support, Your High," He laughed, stopping himself, "Maxon."
Maxon went back to holding me. We must have stood there watching Jay repeatedly tap on Aspen's chest for five minutes until Aspen's groans faded. He stopped shaking, and he took a shaky deep breath and relaxed, his whole body going limp.
Jay stood up, and spoke. "He'll be fine. I got him to relax and breath. He'll just need time to heal. I think he'll be moving fine when he wakes up, too." He shook his head, "I'm sorry I didn't get to him sooner, America. This is all my fault." He dipped his eyes, continually shaking his head in disappointment.
I let go of Maxon and took Jay's hands. He looked into my face. "Jay, this was not your fault. You saved Aspen. We wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you. Thank you."
"Really?" He questioned. I nodded. How in the world could he think this was his fault?
He had just saved Aspen from who knows what? He might have died. I kissed Jay on the cheek, making his face turn a cherry red. He tried not to let the grin across his face look to big, but we could both see it was there. "Thank you, America." He stepped back, crouched down, and began tapping on Aspen's chest again.