Pain.
Blinding, sharp, everywhere.
Eva lay crumpled at the bottom of the staircase, the marble cold beneath her cheek, her breath ragged and shallow. Blood pooled beneath her, warm and sticky, spreading fast.
Her vision blurred, swimming in and out. The world tilted. She tried to lift her head, but it felt like a thousand pounds, and the world tilted as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.
“Eva!” Lena’s voice echoed from above, laced with panic. Footsteps thundered down the stairs, and soon Lena was beside her, eyes wide with shock.
“Eva! Eva, get up!”
Eva tried to speak, to move, but nothing worked.
Lena crouched beside her, eyes wide, face pale, hands fluttering like she didn’t know whether to help or hide the evidence.
“Shit, shit! This wasn’t supposed to—”
Eva’s fingers twitched weakly, fumbling for her phone in her pocket. She could barely focus, could barely breathe, but she unlocked it, found the name—Jack. Her thumb trembled as she tapped out the words.
Help me.
Send.
The phone slipped from her hand, clattering onto the floor.
Lena didn’t notice. She was too busy pacing, muttering under her breath, staring at the blood.
“Oh my god. Oh my god, this isn’t happening.”
Until the front door burst open, slamming against the wall.
“Eva!”
Jack’s voice. Rough. Urgent.
He found her in an instant, eyes going wide, chest rising and falling like he was ready to explode.
“Eva, no. No, no, no!” He dropped to his knees, reaching for her.
Lena darted in, blocking him, arms outstretched.
“Jack, you can’t—get out! You don’t belong here!”
Jack’s face darkened, eyes narrowing like a storm cloud. His voice dropped to a lethal, dangerous low.
“Move.”
“No! This is our home!” she screamed, shoving at his chest.
Jack’s hands clenched into fists at his sides. His voice, when it came, was cold steel.
“Move, or I swear to God I’ll call Callen and tell him exactly what you did. How you pushed his pregnant wife down the stairs.”
Lena froze, the color draining from her face.
“You wouldn’t,” she hissed, but her voice cracked.
Jack leaned in, his eyes burning into hers.
“Try me.”
Lena’s breath hitched. Her lips opened, then closed. She stumbled back, her hands shaking.
Jack turned to Eva, gathering her into his arms as gently as he could.
“Eva, baby, I’ve got you. Stay with me.”
Her head lolled against his chest. She was so pale. So cold.
“Jack…” she breathed, barely there.
“Shh, I’m here. I’m here.”
He didn’t waste another second. He carried her out the door, past Lena’s shocked, trembling frame.
Lena’s voice followed them, high and broken.
“You can’t take her! Jack!”
But Jack didn’t stop.
The hospital lights were blinding, the world spinning around him in flashes of white and red.
“Possible internal bleeding,” a nurse called out.
“Get her to trauma, now!” another ordered.
Jack paced the waiting room like a caged animal, fists clenching and unclenching, his heart hammering so loud he could barely think.
A nurse appeared, her voice soft but firm.
“She’s in surgery. We’re doing everything we can.”
Jack could only nod, his jaw tight, his breath ragged.
Eva… please…
Eva woke to the sound of monitors beeping, the sting of antiseptic in her nose.
Her body felt heavy, her arms weak, her throat raw.
The doctor’s voice floated in, muffled like underwater.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Blackwell… you lost the baby.”
The words hit her like a slap, but she didn’t react. Couldn’t. She just stared at the ceiling, her chest hollow, her world cracked in half.
The door creaked open, and a nurse’s soft voice cut through.
“Will your husband be joining you soon?”
Eva turned her head slowly, her voice a whisper, barely audible.
“I don’t have a husband.”
Jack was there when she woke up again. Sitting in the chair by her bed, dark circles under his eyes, his jaw tight.
“Hey,” he said softly, reaching for her hand. His fingers wrapped around hers, warm and steady.
“I’m so sorry, my baby,” she whispered. Her voice broke, a tear slipping down her cheek.
Jack shook his head. “Don’t. Don’t you dare apologize. This wasn’t your fault.”
Eva stared at him, at the man who’d always been there, waiting in the shadows. The man she had walked away from.
“I don’t want to leave clean,” she whispered, her voice shaking.
Jack’s brows furrowed.
“What?”
“I was going to divorce Callen. I was going to walk away.” Her lips trembled. “But I’m not doing that anymore.”
Jack’s eyes darkened, understanding slowly dawning.
“What are you saying?” he asked quietly.
Eva sat up straighter, the pain sharp in her ribs, but the fire in her chest burning hotter.
“I’m going to make them pay,” she said. Her voice was steady now, the tears drying. “For everything.”
