Our Love Isn't Dead (Negovanman)

Chapter 10

Scooping up a baseball-sized rock from the ground, I tackled him without any fear invading my mind. Elise fell with us, though his grip on her hair broke when I made impact with him. I raised the rock with both hands and brought it down as hard as I could onto his nose when his bloody mouth let out a growl. I heard a crunch and repeated the same motion. And again. Even as he was lying motionless on the ground with an unrecognizable, broken face, I still screamed at him. I still bashed in what was left of his face. My arms strained from the force, but I ignored it because he took everything away from me at that moment.

He ruined it all. We were going to get married someday, somehow. I didn't give a shit what the world turned to because I had her. Now she was bleeding beside me from the bite of an infected sick fuck.

"Elise," I cried. I turned to her, dropping the bloody rock, and wiped my hands on the warm grass. I scooped her up in my arms and let her sit between my legs as I pressed my forehead onto hers. I cupped her cheek and just cried, amazed that she was holding back her tears for so long. "Baby."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Don't be sorry. I'm sorry."

Elise let out a pained sigh and dropped her head back on my bicep.

"How long does it take?" she breathed out.

"It seemed like a long process, right?" I messily wiped the tears from my eyes, so I could go straight back to running my fingers through her hair to comfort her. I just wanted to hold her warm body while I could.

She closed her eyes and finally let out her emotions, crying heavily into the crook of my neck. I just held her tighter and cried with her uncontrollably.

"What the hell happened?" came Lyza's voice behind me. "Elise... oh my god."

I didn't raise my head to look at her or explain. She could see what happened.

"W-we should clean th-that up." Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat to disguise it. "Gemma!"

Gentle hands pulled us apart so they could get Elise up and help her before she bled out. Lyza took one side, and I took the other. I kissed her temple a few times and brought my lips to her ear. I tried my best to hold in my sobs.

"You'll be okay," I said strongly.

She just shook her head.

My hands were too shaky to help with the careful cleaning process, so Gemma took over for me about halfway through. Elise sat on the counter by the sink with Gemma beside her, dabbing at the wound with a washcloth wet with disinfectant and preparing to get a bandage over it. I stood in the doorway with Lyza at my side. I had my head on her shoulder as she rubbed my back, and we watched Elise wince with each pat to her neck. I winced with her.

"What do we do?" I asked Lyza in a whisper.

She kissed my cheek and said, "I don't know. This is... dangerous."

I turned away and pulled her with me down the hall so Elise wouldn't see. I didn't even have to force my best friend into a hug because she embraced me first. That was when all the walls I put up to try and stay strong in front of Elise broke. I was doing a terrible job anyway because I was crying more than her.

I tightly held Lyza around the waist and cried into her neck. She just soothingly ran her fingers through my hair and stood as my rock... as she had always been.

"Nat?" Elise called just before appearing in the hall.

Wiping my eyes with the backs of my hands, I took a step back from Lyza and looked at Elise. Her shirt was off, and she just had a sports bra on her torso. A white bandage covered her shoulder to her neck, and the sight of it made me want to break down again. Her eyes were red from crying like mine more than likely were. She was obviously feeling just as torn up, if not more.