Chapter 240 I’m Sorry
Chapter 240 I’m Sorry
TESSA
40
+10 Free Coins
Ca’s cries pierced through the tense air. She clung to Sol, her fists tight in his shirt as she watched Rowan being carried across the clearing.
“Is he okay, Mommy?” she sobbed, her wide eyes searching mine.
I couldn’t answer. The truth was, I didn’t know. Rowan’s breaths were shallow, each one more fragile than thest. His abdomen was slick with blood, staining the arms of the men who carried him, dripping a trail behind us as we moved.
He had done this for a pack he had barely known for less than a month.
And now, as his blood stained our ground, the pack that had once viewed him with wariness and suspicion now followed with grief written all over their faces. Concern weighed heavy in every pair of eyes that lingered on him. He had left an impact, deeper than I had even noticed until this moment.
When we reached the old clinic, I stopped at the doorway. “Leave,” I said firmly. “I’ll treat him. I need space.”
They all hesitated. Their eyes darted between one another, unwilling to walk away. Noelle looked at me the longest, her eyes glistening with the same fear that I knew was mirrored in mine. But she nodded finally, her hand brushing my arm briefly, before she began ushering the others out.
“Come on,” she said softly to the carpenters, to the warriors, to Sol and Ca. Ca looked back over her shoulder, her cheeks damp with tears.
“Mommy…” she whispered again.
1 gave her the smallest nod, though I didn’t know if it was reassurance or a lie.
After Rowan wasid carefully onto the bed, thest of them left. The door closed behind Noelle with a quiet thud, and silence fell around us.
I was alone with him.
The first thing I did was move to control the bleeding. His abdomen was shed in more ces than I could count, some shallow, others frighteningly deep. The blood seeped fast, hot against my hands, and I pressed down firmly, whispering words I wasn’t even aware of.
Chapter 240 I’m Sorry
Please. Please, let him be okay.
40
+10 Free Coins
“Did you take all of it?” I whispered hoarsely, my tears spilling despite my best effort to hold them back. “All the shes?”
My fingers shook as I worked, trying to piece him back together with nothing but bandages and stubborn will. But no matter how tight I bound, no matter how hard I pressed, it felt endless. His blood kept running, soaking the cloths I wrapped, staining my hands, painting me at the cost of his sacrifice.
I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut. “Why would you do this?” I breathed, my voice breaking. “Why would you give everything, Rowan? You don’t even belong to us. You shouldn’t…”
The words choked off, and before I could stop it, a tear slid down my cheek and dropped onto
his skin.
“Don’t cry.”
The sound startled me, so faint it could have been mistaken for a sigh. My head snapped up, breath hitching, and his eyes were on me.
“Don’t cry because of me anymore,” he murmured. His lips curved faintly, but it was enough to undo mepletely.
My breath hitched so violently I nearly jolted backward. His voice wrapped around me like a lifeline I didn’t know I needed.
“Rowan,” I muttered, leaning closer, desperate to anchor myself to him, to prove he was still here with me. My hands shook as they hovered over his chest, over the blood soaking through the bandages. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”
He blinked slowly, hisshes fluttering against his pale cheeks. “My head hurts,” he whispered. “I think… someone struck my head.”
I gasped, panic rushing through me as I carefully lifted his head just enough to look. The crimson hue against his light hair confirmed the presence of his pain.
“I’m sleepy,” he murmured, his eyes already threatening to slide shut.
“No,” I shook my head sharply. “Don’t sleep. Stay awake, please. Stay with me.”
He groaned softly at the insistence, but then, against all reason, he smiled. That same soft, maddening smile that made my heart beat faster.
Chapter 240 I’m Sorry
40
+10 Free Coins
“I’m hearing you say that now,” he whispered, “but I hate myself for not being able to… react well to it.”
My vision blurred. The tears I’d been holding back finally fell, rolling down my cheeks in streams I couldn’t stop. “Seriously, Rowan,” I eximed through sobs. Why did you take all the hits yourself?”
“I can’t let you take any,” he said softly, stubborn even now. “I needed to protect everyone. Especially you… and Ca.”
I pressed my lips together, my chest convulsing as I tried to steady my breaths. “You always try to protect others,” I muttered. “But can you even protect yourself?”
He only smiled again. “I’m really sleepy now,” he whispered again.
“No,” I shook my head furiously, tears sttering onto his chest as I continued pressing against his wounds. My hands were drenched in his blood, shaking so violently it was a wonder I could still move them at all. “No. You’re going to be okay. Do you hear me? You’re waiting for me to forgive you, right? You said you’d make it up to me. You promised!”
His lips parted, breath faint. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Stop saying that!” I screamed through my sobs. “Stop apologizing, Rowan! You’re ” My throat closed, my voice breaking into a strangled cry. “You’re someone I need now.”
His hand twitched weakly, trying to reach for mine. “Please smile,” he said faintly. “I at least… want to see you smile.”
“How-” I could hardly get the word out, my lips trembling as another sob stole my breath. “How can I smile when you’re like this?”
His eyes met mine, filled with pain, but also something much deeper-love.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. His lips trembled, his body weak beneath my hands. “I’m really… sorry.”
I wanted to scream at him to stop. That I didn’t want his apologies. That all I wanted was him. Whole. Alive. With me.
I wanted to say it.
But before the words could leave me, his hand slipped from mine, falling limp at his side.