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I hovered my hands over her, fearing that if I moved her, somehow I’d make her injuries worse.

“Alex?” she whispered.

“I’m so sorry this time. It’s my fault. I should’ve been there. I listened for you, but I thought?—”

She slowly shook her head. “It’s okay. Not your fault.”

I gently slid my thumb up and down her arm. “The ambulance is coming.”

“Call my mom. Tell her what happened. Take care of Damien,” she said softly, and I nodded.

“I’ll do everything.” I wanted to throw up.

I wanted to rage across the room. I wanted to shout until the air bled from my lungs.

The pain was worse than I imagined death would feel.

“I’m right here,” I whispered, and I kept gently caressing her with my thumb as the tears finally fell fiercely down my cheeks.

Seconds, minutes, or hours—I couldn’t be sure—passed before Dirks was pulling me off Anastasia, and the paramedics replaced me, quickly getting her on a stretcher.

I turned toward where they were hauling her off, and I caught a glimpse of his blonde hair in the hallway as the police were cuffing him. I beelined in his direction, but before I could reach him, two large hands pulled me back. My nostrils flared, and tears continued to stream uncontrollably.

I whipped my head around, and from the very primal part of my body, I growled, “Let. Me. Go.”

Dirks put his hands up in surrender. “Think about the team.” He tried to reason with me.

“Fuck the team.” I wiped the spit and tears from my face as I glared at him. “Fuck them. Fuck all of you. Fuck him.”

I charged into the hallway, my eyes locked on Dimitri as they hauled him away. Before I got any closer, an officer stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

“Move,” I shouted, my voice raw with rage and desperation.

“Sir, you need to calm down,” the officer said firmly, placing a hand on my chest to keep me back.

“I need to see him. He needs to pay for what he did,” I screamed, trying to push past the officer. My voice echoed through the hallway, filled with all the anguish and anger boiling inside me.

“He’s going away for a long time,” the officer said, his tone measured but resolute. “Justice will be served. You need to let us handle this. If you go out there, you’ll end up in the same place he’s going.”

In a softer tone, the officer looked at me. “She’s going to need someone when she wakes up.”

Those words hit me like a sledgehammer. Everything broke. My legs gave out beneath me, and I dropped to my knees, my body racked with pain and sadness, unlike anything I had ever known. It felt like my chest was being crushed from the inside out.

The only positive part of all of this was that Damien was home with her mom.

Tears poured down my face as sobs tore through me, each one more agonizing than the last. “This is all my fault,” I choked out between gasps. The weight of guilt and helplessness was unbearable. I had failed to protect her, failed to save her from the nightmare that was her life with Dimitri.

My vision blurred as I continued to cry, my entire body trembling. The hallway around me seemed to close in, the sounds of the officers and the world around me fading into the background. All I heard was my own despair, my own sense of failure.

The hallway’s fluorescent lights flickered above me. Every breath felt like a struggle, my chest heaving with each sob. The distant chatter of police radios and the shuffling of feet seemed like a cruel reminder of the reality I couldn’t escape.

Images of Anastasia’s bloody, terrified face flashed through my mind, each one stabbing at my heart. Her pleading whispers, her desperate calls for help echoed in my ears. I had been so close, yet I had failed her. The thought of what she endured, the pain she suffered, was too much.

I clenched my fists against the cold floor, nails digging into my palms as I tried to steady myself.

The ache in my chest grew sharper, a physical manifestation of the emotional torment ripping me apart.

The officers eyed me, but their presence was distant, almost unreal.

My world had narrowed down to this overwhelming grief, this all-consuming sense of loss.

I should have been there for her, should have done something sooner.

The what-ifs and could-have-beens swirled in my mind, each one a dagger to my soul.

As I knelt there, broken and defeated, thoughts of Anastasia and Damien consumed me.

The pain of knowing they were beyond my protection was a burden that felt unbearable.

The enormity of my failure crushed me, leaving me hollow and adrift in a sea of despair.

“Come on. She needs you at the hospital.” Dirks lifted me after what felt like hours, and when I looked around, some of the team and Coach had gathered in the hall.

“I don’t know what happened. I think the police need a statement...” Coach tried to grab me, but Dirks shook him away.

“No. He’s going to the hospital.”

I looked over at Dirks, who only nodded and encouraged me to get to the car. An understanding passed between us, and I wondered if he knew that this was where it would always lead.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on what was in front of me.