Better

Chapter 20

All he could see was the blood. Blood was covering her, blood was splattered on the floor. Blood was dripping from the shards of glass, blood was smeared on her feet. His stomach churned, as his eyes went wide in panic.

He backed up, gasping as repressed memories of the blood and corpses suddenly reappeared, blocking his memory. He dropped to the ground, curling into a ball as he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, trying to get them to stop. "Go away!" he growled, shaking furiously. "I need to-to help her" Dylan reminded himself, willing the horrors to go away.

He groaned, forcing himself to sit back up as he blinked the memories away. Focus. He quickly moved over to her, his heart pounding against his chest. She sat still, staring down at her hands as tears streamed down her face. "What happened? What happened?" Dylan asked, searching her for injuries.

"I couldn't stand to look at them anymore" Emma whispered, her eyes trained on the slivers of glass that lay scattered on the floor. Dylan tried to piece it together but all he could see was the blood. Focus, Dylan. Help her.

"What? You couldn't stand to look at what?" Dylan asked, finding that the blood was coming from gashes in her hands and feet. Emma shook her head slowly, more tears streaming down her cheeks. "Emma!" Dylan shouted, taking her face into his hands as he forced her eyes to meet his. "What happened?" he asked, desperation seeping into his voice.

"The pictures" Emma whimpered, closing her eyes. "I couldn't look at the pictures anymore" she admitted, her voice cracking as more tears escaped her. Dylan looked back up at the bureau, noticing the missing pictures of Emma and Tyler. "I-I don't know what h-happened" Emma stuttered, biting back sobs. "It's like something came over me and I just couldn't stand to have them in here"

"So you threw them on the floor? You smashed them?" Dylan asked, pulling off his sweatshirt as he tied her hands together, allowing the fabric to soak up the blood.

"Yeah" Emma nodded, heaving in a deep breath. "I smashed them, and kicked them and I didn't even realize I was bleeding. I didn't even feel the glass cutting my hands and feet. I didn't even notice" Emma whispered, her eyes going blank again.

Dylan bit his lip, shaking his head slowly as he was over come with grief. It had only been an hour and she could've died. I shouldn't have left her alone. Emma glanced back over at Dylan who stared at the blood with wide, teary eyes. "I'm sorry Dylan" Emma whispered, Dylan quickly glancing up.

He offered a small smile, his head tilting to the side. "You don't ever have to apologize to me, okay?" Dylan whispered, using his thumb to brush away her tears.

"I'm losing it" she whispered, a tinge of insanity lacing her words. He had heard it the night before and he could hear it again. "I'm really losing it. I can't think straight. I can't function" Emma's eyebrows came together in confusion. "I-I need to clear my head" Emma muttered, closing her eyes in frustration.

"Okay, we can do that" Dylan nodded, unsure of how to handle this. He was always the one who had needed help. He was always the one who people worried about. Now that he was at the other end, he had no idea how to handle it. "How about I go and get some bandages and we get you cleaned up? Then we'll go to the hospital and see if you need stitches"

"No. I don't wanna-I don't wanna-" Emma became frantic, shaking her head. Dylan gripped her shoulders, calming her immediately.

"I'll go with you. After we can figure out how to clear your head. We can go and get your favorite coffee at that small shop in town or we can go for a walk in the park. Whatever you want, okay? Just let me make sure you're okay first" Dylan told her. Emma stared into his eyes and knew that she really didn't have a choice in this.