ALEX.
The cold, damp air of the subterranean cell clung to my skin like a shroud. I lay curled up on the hard stone floor, my ribs aching with every shallow breath I took. The bitter stench of old whiskey and dry blood filled my nose, but none of the physical pain even came close to the absolute, suffocating agony ripping through my chest.
"Ella..." I whispered into the dark, my voice broken, raspy, and raw from hours of screaming.
Every time I shut my eyes, I saw her quiet face in that hospital room. I felt the ice in her voice cutting through the last piece of my soul.
"No, no, no," I muttered, dragging myself across the filthy floor toward the heavy iron cell door. Tears spilled over my bruised cheeks, stinging the fresh cuts on my face. "You didn't mean it. You were just hurt. You're going to come back to me. You have to come back..."
