Breaking Free

Chapter 36

"Taylor?" Mrs Stone warily questions, standing to her feet. "Taylor?"

Tears spring up to her eyes, and she runs towards me, wrapping me in a hug.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper. I'm not sorry for any one thing in particular- I'm just sorry. If it weren't for me, her son wouldn't be in surgery, and their lives wouldn't be I'm constant turmoil. I ruin everything I touch- I'm like poison.

She pulls away and holds me at arms length, examining me as if to make sure it's really me.

"How?"

"I can't talk about it now," I whisper.

I notice now that everyone has formed a small crowd around me- except Jake, who stands in a corner staring at me in awe and confusion.

"We thought you were dead," Joy whispers. "Carter was-"

She trails off, unable to finish her sentence. Her eyes lock with mine.

"Never do that to us again," she whispers.

The door flys open, and Ariel runs through. She's taken aback by the crowd of people, and the confusion on her face is obvious.

"Taylor?" she squeaks. I pull away from the crowd and walk over to her, grabbing her hand.

"This is Ariel- my sister," I announce. The reaction I get is something along the lines of everyone's jaws hitting the floor.

"That's impossible- your parents are dead," Joy starts, confusion apparent on her face.

"No they're not," I whisper. "I have a lot to tell you guys, but now isn't the time."

As if to back me up, a doctor comes into the waiting room.

"You all are waiting for Carter Stone, correct?" he gruffly asks.

"Yes," Mr Stone agrees.

"The surgery is going well so far, and we've almost reached the bullet. Our main concern is that it's so close to the heart that we might accidentally hit the heart and damage it. But if all goes well, he should have a full recovery," he states authoritatively, before leaving and heading back to the OR.

"What do we do now," I ask.

"We wait."

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So we waited. For an hour, and then two. And then six. And eleven.

Let me tell you, waiting sucks. I can't sleep because every time I close my eyes I see a headstone with Carter's name on it. I fight sleep like it's the plague, afraid of the nightmares that I might endure.

I can't talk for fear of crying. I can't eat. So I just wait.

The only thing worse than the waiting is the wondering. Wondering what's happening. For all I know, he could be dead or dying on the operating table. Every second that ticks by could be his last. And I just don't know. It's killing me.

Ariel has her head on my shoulder, her eyes closed as she sleeps peacefully. I envy her. She isn't worried about Carter, not to the extent I am. She just thinks of him as another human- but to me he's everything. I can't live without him. He has to be okay, or I don't know what I'll do.

He just has to be.

A/N

I updated again, though its a fairly short chapter. Sorry about that. But at least I updated. Love you guys.

And holy crap I can't believe I have 20k reads on this book!!!! And Runaway Horse has 26.3K!!! I love you guys so much!

I remember starting this series, only expecting to write one book and never get more than 500 reads. I love you guys you're amazing!

Thank you my lovelies, you guys are so awesome!