Us.

Chapter 34: The Question

Braden's P.O.V. (Continued)

"Claire, come on. You have to wake up. Come on. Claire wake up." I say as I gently shake her again. I lean down and kiss her forehead. "Claire wake up. Come on Claire. Wake up." I say as I shake her shoulder. I drop my head and take deep breaths.

I have seen her like this too many times. She's too sweet, too gentle, too caring to be like this. I see her hand laying on the floor, but her knuckles are bruised. Di-Did she punch him? She did. She defended herself. I always knew she could, I just wanted to be the one to do it. I reach down and pick up her hand, and it stays limp in my hand. I pick my head back up and her eyes are closing again. Closing? She's awake. She's awake!

"Hey, eyes on me." I say, trying to keep her awake. She holds her eyes open, and I sigh with relief.

"Wha-What happened?" She croaks.

"That doesn't matter right now. Are you okay?" I ask as I gently stroke the top of her head.

"It hurts to talk." She says.

"Your jaw?" I ask. She slowly nods.

"Let's get you to the couch. Okay?" I ask. She nods. I take the ice packs and set them on the ground. "Do you want to walk?" I ask. She nods. I support her back as she sits up, and the look of pain on her face tells me that she won't be able to walk well. She gets to her feet and she wraps her arm around my shoulder for support. We walk slowly over to the couch and she sits down. "You good?" I ask.

She nods. I quickly go back and grab the ice packs and bring them back.

"Here." I say as I move the ottoman closer to her. I lift her legs for her and gently place them on the ottoman. I sit down next to her. "May I?" I ask, gesturing to her shirt. She smiles and nods. I gently lift her shirt and there's already bruises. I take a deep breath.

~~~Flashback~~~

Max throws a punch and hits me in the head. I see stars, but I'm not gonna let that stop me. Max clenches his fist and raises it. He brings it down hard, but I don't feel an impact. Claire is in front of me, doubled over.

He
Hit
Her.

He goes to hit me again, but Claire stands up and takes another blow right to the gut. She falls to the ground, breathing very hard. I chase Max out of the ally. He's smart to run. I run back and Claire is on her back. I put one hand on her shoulder, and the other gently on her stomach. She winces and coughs, I immediately remove my hand.

"Oh my god, Claire I can't believe you did that." I say.

"You...you..." She trails off. "You...would've done...the same." She says, and I can tell every word causes her extreme pain.

"That has to be one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me." I say. She smiles, but she then coughs. I can tell it hurts her because she winces. She closes her eyes.

No!

I lift her shirt up and there are two huge blue bruises on her stomach.

~~~End of Flashback~~~

My breaths are heavy as the memory replays over and over again. The worst part is her falling to the ground.

"Hey, it's okay." She says quietly. "It was my choice." I look into her eyes and every word causes her pain. I can see it, but she tries to hide it. "Okay?" She asks. Her eyes gloss over at the pain.

"Stop talking." I say. "It hurts you."

"I just want to make sure that you're oka-" She says before I cut her off.