Page 100 of Healing Conviction

“Drake!”

She crawled to him, tripping over herself until she reached him. Flinging herself over his torso, she placed her hands on either side of his cheeks, slightly shaking him, praying his eyes would freakingopen.

“Drake, handsome. Pix is gonna need you to wake up right now, alright? Come on…” She tapped his cheeks before checking his pulse, not really knowing what the hell she was doing, but knowing instinctively it was too slow.

“Shit. What the fuck do I do?” He was breathing. But was he passed out? Worse? “Oh, for the love…” She crawled on top of him, grabbing the sides of his bearded face. Her voice took on a cheery, singsongy quality. “Drake… this is veryru-ude. If this is a joke, it’s not a good one and very Draco Malfoy of you. Not cool. Not cool. Not cool.” She slapped him lightly. “You have towake up. Wake up so you can laugh at me for freaking the fudge out. Wake up, wake up, wakeup.”

A thought crossed her mind and she settled her gaze on his lips. Holding his head straight, she bent over him and kissed him, making sure she poured in every emotion she’d been holding back. She stayed absolutely still, kissing him chastely for three whole seconds before lifting up and watching for any sign of movement.

Nothing.

“Are you freakingkiddingme? That’s supposed to fucking work!” She crashed her fists onto his chest and shouted. “That. Always. Fucking. Works. Why. Didn’t. It.Work?”

Her breaths came out in pants and she cupped his cheeks in her hands again. He was getting blurry thanks to the tears filling her eyes.

Finally, she couldn’t hold back anymore. She sobbed and held on to him tightly, no longer capable of keeping the sheer agony and desperation from her voice.

“Drake,please. Please… you have to wake up. I can’t fucking do this again. Pleasewake up! Ineedyou!”

Her hold relaxed as she crumpled against his chest and wrapped her arms under his head, embracing him as she wept against his bare chest.

“Please… please… I can’t. I can’t do it again, Drake. I can’t. I need you. I lov—”

Big hands soothed down her back, and she jerked up.

“Drake?”

Tired, dark eyes opened, resting on hers. “Hey, Pix.”

“Oh my gods, and goddesses, and all that is holy and unholy, thank the motherfucking sun, moon, and stars.” She threw herself at him and hugged him as tight as she could. Even though his arms weren’t cutting off her circulation like hers was to him, he was embracing her back and it felt glorious. “You’re alive.”

He patted her back and snickered. “I’m alive.”

She jerked up again and slapped his bare chest. “Don’t laugh! That was super-duper uncool of you, dude. Real Cedric Diggory death scene vibes over here.”

A chuckle rumbled underneath her anyway, but as much as she tried, she knew her scowl had no teeth. His eyes softened.

“I’m sorry I scared you, Pix. Believe it or not, that wasn’t my intent when I murdered a guy in front of you.”

“Oh, right… believe it or not, the scary partwasn’tthe murder in front of me. It was you collapsing like an inconsiderate butthead afterward.” She swiveled around to face the body bleeding out a few feet away before returning to Drake. “How the fudge did I forget about the dead guy?” The man under the boulder flashed in her mind. “Shoot, two dead guys. Other one got the deadfall.”

“Five, I think. I got one of them early. The other I managed to shoot twice in the warehouse and I never saw him come out.”

She counted mentally in her head before tilting her head. “And the last one?”

“Trap.”

“Ooo, really? Which one? The flying mace?”

He snorted and shook his head. “Nope, the spring-loaded one.”

She sucked her teeth and shook her head. “Ofcourse. Go ahead. Tell me how cool it was.”

“Pretty fucking cool. Until I got blown back from the blast.”

“Wait.” She recalled the moment she’d been able to engage the deadfall trap. “That explosion wasthat?”

“Yup.”