The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

Though, it was not Reed's blood that had tainted the knife but, instead, Ember's. Almost half of the knife had disappeared through the tissue and muscle of her leg. Multiple muffled grunts escaped Ember as she quickly stripped off her jacket, wrapping the piece of clothing around the wound to hide the smell of her blood.

All the while, Reed stared at her, unable to do much of anything to help. Only when she collapsed onto his chest, did he finally react, quickly wrapping his arms around her cold body.

She slowly drew her head upward and away from Reed's chest to reveal her teary eyes. "I can't believe it worked." A shaky breath full of pain and a bit of disbelief left her. "But shit, shit, shit, it hurts. It hurts a lot."

"Why...why did you...?" Reed began to ask but couldn't form a proper question.

Her hand moved from where it rested on the jacket covering her wound and to Reed's face. She cupped his cheek gently as she swallowed down the words rising in her throat. If she told him everything right then, it would only make things worse.

"I'll end up bleeding to death if I explain all the details," She said, smiling a little, "Just know that I never will want to hurt you. What happened before, that...that was not my will. It was someone else's. But, they chose the wrong person to do their bidding."

Slightly over his initial shock, he let out a short laugh, eyeing the jacket hiding the knife that was sticking out of her leg. "Clearly."

Although he was troubled to know that someone had wanted him dead, he decided to put those worries aside. Besides, there was something more important to deal with. 

Carefully, he secured her jacket around her leg, thankful that she was quick to cover up the smell of her blood before he unwillingly lost control of himself.

Quiet noises of discomfort left her with each small movement from him as he stood up. For the sake of her comfort, he decided to walk as slowly as possible, not wanting her to be in any more pain.

"I get that you're trying to be wary of me, but I seriously would rather you run than walk at the speed of a damn snail," She gritted out. "Remember, I'm bleeding out here. If you take any longer, this jacket won't be able to hide the smell of my bl–..."

Her voice cut out as Reed took off running, holding her tight against her chest. The wind whipping around them snapped at her leg, adding to the fiery pain that was quickly becoming unbearable. That, along with the high amount of blood she was losing, was making it hard for her to hold onto consciousness. 

Despite this, she refused to give in. She would not rest until things were all settled. Though, she couldn't do much of anything when she had a knife lodged in her leg. All she could really do was stare up at Reed with half-lidded eyes.

This was the first time she had been able to look at him without foreign thoughts of hatred clouding her mind. There was no quiet voice whispering in her ear, telling her that she didn't love Reed. Nor was there a burning desire to kill clawing at her chest. It was relieving for her.

After all that time of being trapped inside her own body, she was herself again. She could finally look at Reed and let her own truthful thoughts flow through her mind. I love him. That was all that she could think of, but she didn't dare say it. Confessing to Reed while she was bleeding out wasn't exactly the most ideal scenario. She would rather hold her tongue and let her thoughts silently tell him those three words as she gazed up at those purple eyes full of determination. 

When those eyes finally cast down to her own, everything seemed to slow. Green met purple, smiles formed on lips, and hearts began to beat all too quickly. Unfortunately, the sound of a door swinging open brought both of their attention to the left, where Landon was standing.