Chapter 46: Exhaustion

The freeing feeling I experienced was quickly forgotten when I heard a voice inside my head. Chase sounding panicked, called out mentally, "Are you okay? I heard you scream. What was that sound?". I couldn't even answer back before a dark mist swirled in the kitchen before solidifying into a bare chested Chase. His eyes scanned the room before landing on my crumpled form on the floor. He rushed over and kneeled beside me, "Are you okay?", he repeated. Already I could hear the others footsteps upstairs rushing around. I focused on Chase and asked, almost pleaded, "Please call off the others. I dropped my glass". My words were strained as I forced them out.

Chase's eyes went to the wall, where liquid dripped down. There were shards of glass somewhat embedded in the drywall from how hard I had thrown the cup. He looked back at me, knowing I blatantly lied, but he did not confront me about it. I could see the questions in his gaze, but he asked nothing. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them back up saying, "The others have been informed. They will not bother us". I wanted to thank Chase and I wished for the words to come out but they just wouldn't. It was too much effort.

"I'm going to help you up now. I do not want you to get cut on the scattered glass", Chase said as he put his arms around me. He picked me up effortlessly from the ground like a small child. He walked over to a bar stool and sat me down. His gaze assessed my body for injuries and after coming to the conclusion I had none he walked to the broom closet. No way was I going to let him clean up my mess. I slid down from my seat and reached for the broom with shaky hands. My body wanted to fall over and my mind wanted to let me give up. Mentally drained was an understatement.

Chase gave me a stern look and said, "Sit down. You're barefooted. I will clean up the glass but I will not be cleaning up your blood tonight". Chase had been very soft with me until now and his words sent a cold chill up my spine. I sat back down with an exhausted sigh. He was right... in this state I was more likely to do more damage to myself then to gather up the glass. I still wasn't happy about having him clean up though. This was all my fault and he was paying the price.