Tabula Rasa

Chapter 18

Matt knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into the bedroom.

Calina was silently pulling against the ties holding her captive. That wasn't a surprise - she was bound to try to escape when his back was turned - but the way she was moving spoke more of a panicked struggle than a strategy to get free.

Her heart was also racing, and whilst he knew she could fake that response, he didn't think she could fake the adrenaline-laced terror seeping from her pores.

The beer bottle smashed against the hard floor as he ran to her side. "Calina? What's going on?"

There was no reply. Her mouth opened and closed but no sound emerged.

No air did either.

He placed a hand on her chest, but there was no rise as she breathed. With her heart pounding the way it was, she should have been gulping down breaths, but she wasn't breathing.

She wasn't breathing!

"Calina, breathe! You have to breathe!" His hands moved to her face. He cradled her cheeks as he leaned over her, his ear next to her mouth. But he couldn't hear any wheeze, couldn't detect any swelling of the tissues of her throat. Nothing to suggest her airway was blocked or closed over.

So why the hell wasn't she breathing?!

His fingers moved over her face, stroking the soft skin of her forehead, smoothing back the sweat-damped hair from her temples, trying to calm her in case this was some strange anxiety attack. "Callie, please," he pleaded. "You need to breathe, sweetheart. Just take a breath. Please."

Her chest remained still, even as her heart raced faster. Her back bowed off the bed as she fought against her own body.

But then her movements slowed. She collapsed back on the bed, and her eyes drifted closed. Her heartbeat stuttered...

"Callie!" Matt yelled, his own heart threatening to jump out of his chest with fear.

No. No, he couldn't lose her.

He couldn't lose anyone else.

He scrambled onto the bed, grasped her chin and tilted her head back. Then he closed his mouth over hers and breathed.

He felt the air as it passed from his lips to hers. He heard it travel down to her lungs, and sensed the movement as her chest expanded.

So he breathed again. And again.

His eyes closed in relief when her heart beat evened out and she regained consciousness. She tensed up as realised what was happening, but with each exhalation, her body relaxed. Her mouth went soft under his as she stopped fighting for air.

As she started trusting him to save her.

He felt a warm tear as it ran down her cheek. He brushed the moisture away with his thumb, his heart breaking at her distress. "It's okay," he whispered between breaths, his thumb continuing to caress her cheek. "You're going to be okay."

And she would be - because he could finally hear Yelena in the building. The husky, accented voice was barking commands to the two people following her up the stairs. A few minutes later, he heard their footsteps in the hallway. Then his front door slammed open. "Calina?!" she shouted.

"In here," he answered between breaths.

He didn't lift his head as she raced into his room - he just kept breathing. He felt her cross over to the side of the bed, the petite woman somehow managing to loom over him as she took in Calina's condition. "What the fuck did you do?" she growled.