Sacrifice Read Online Adriana Locke

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Angst, Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Sports Tags Authors:
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Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 118459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 474(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
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“Mrs. Gentry, your daughter has cancer.”

I squeeze my eyes shut as the room begins to spin. Round and round and round. I raise a hand and touch the top of my head. It feels light, like I’ve been hit over the head with a board.

I think I’m going to be sick.

There’s a knock at the door, but it sounds so far away. I’m not even sure, really, if it’s my door. I hear it louder and I know I need to answer it, but I don’t. I just sit with my eyes shut and rock back and forth.

I hear Crew calling my name. I vaguely remember calling him.

How long ago was that?

The door bursts open so loudly that it breaks through the haze. I open my eyes and see Crew storm into the room. His eyes are wild, his forehead marred with frustration. He spots me and then scans the room. “Where’s Ever?”

My throat feels lined with gauze, thick, and I make myself swallow just so I can speak. But I still can’t. Words are impossible now—nothing that I would have to say is anything I want to ever mutter.

Crew takes off through the house, calling Ever’s name. I squeeze my eyes shut again, listening to him say it.

What if a time comes when he doesn’t have to say it anymore?

I feel my stomach roll, twisting and knotting, churning with bile at the thought.

No! I won’t think that way. This is a mistake.

I take a deep breath like I was taught to do when I was pregnant. I fill my lungs with air and blow it out, the air coming out in rickety spurts. It’s supposed to calm you, and to keep you from panicking.

It doesn’t work.

“What the fuck, Jules? What’s going on?”

He stands next to the sofa, the vein in his temple pulsing. He’s looking at me like I’m ready to jump off a cliff.

Maybe I am.

I can’t answer his question because I don’t know. I don’t know what the last couple of days has been about. I know my little girl had a fever and an upset stomach and I took her to the doctor. I know they told me not to worry. I know the bomb that was dropped on my lap today was more than I ever imagined.

It’s more than I can take.

I can’t comprehend it. I can’t believe it. They have to be wrong. They are wrong. My beautiful baby girl isn’t sick.

She isn’t. She can’t be.

He moves quickly around the furniture and is in front of me before I can process it. “Jules? Where’s Ever?”

“She’s . . .” I start, but I can’t finish it. As soon as I say something, the dialogue is open and I’ll have to tell him all of it. If I can just keep quiet, maybe it won’t be real.

“Damn it, Julia.” He grabs me, his large hands covering my shoulders completely, and shakes me. “Fucking talk to me!”

I hear the panic in his voice. I want to save him from the panic he’s going to feel when I speak, but I can’t save anyone right now.

I’ve never been able to save anyone . . .

“She’s with Olivia.” I feel my bottom lip quiver, but I can’t stop it as much as I try. My teeth begin to chatter as Crew’s hands leave my shoulders.

A shiver tears through me and, for the first time, I feel like I can cry. But the tears still don’t come. I will them to. I try to blink my eyes and force them over my lids. If I could just cry, I could feel something. I just feel so . . . numb. And with the numbness comes a sense of not being able to process what’s going on, not being alert enough to make the quick decisions that need to be made.

That have to be made.

Life or death decisions.

I know I need to wake up and get out of this fog. I also know that when I do, I can never come back here. To this place where I feel slightly protected, cushioned by the haze around me. It’s like I’m sitting in a cage of lions and have this bubble around me that must be popped. As soon as it does, I’m going to be eaten alive.

“She’s all right, right?” He kneels in front of me, his hands now on my knees. “Jules? I need you to say something. You’re freaking me out here. What in the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You better find the words pretty fucking quick. You never call me and now I’m here and I can’t find Ever, and you won’t talk.” He narrows his eyes and I know he’s about at his wits end. “Fucking now, Jules.” His tone is soft, but there’s no denying the command.


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