Page 49 of Beyond Repair: Part Two
Chapter 29
Kai
Oh God. Oh fuck.
Ridge demands to know what's going on, but I’m not sure how to answer his question. Nina's curled into a ball on the floor between the tub and the fucking toilet while we're all kneeling around her like a bunch of idiots.
Like some fucked up confetti, bits and pieces of wood and paint litter the tiles from me kicking the door in. The sound of Nina gagging sent my body into overdrive, then when she shouted my name, I lost it.
Brute force has never been my approach, but the distress coming from inside the bathroom forced my hand. Or foot actually, because there was no hesitation, just me kicking the door as hard as I could.
Guilt chews at my throat, keeping me from consoling my woman. My thoughtlessness sent Nina spiraling, and now she's cowering away from us. Fromme.
I don't know what this panic attack is or what's wrong, but it's so much worse than any of the other ones we've witnessed.
She's trembling, choking, sobbing, and fucking naked, with the towel slipping further and further from her scarred skin. My eyes begin to burn, and the knowledge that I am no good for the woman I love right now forces the tears over the edge.
Feeling like I have no choice, since I've only made everything worse, I retreat. For once, Trevor also looks lost and scared. Ridge is pissed, and Henry? Well, he does what we're all failing to do.
"Shhh," my fiancé coos, shuffling toward Nina on his knees. He looks into the toilet and grimaces before closing the lid silently. "It's Henry, sweet."
She softens ever so slightly at Henry's use of Will's nickname for her.
Ridge rushes out of the room and is back a moment later with a blanket.Why the hell didn't I think of that?
Henry takes Nina's favorite blanket and wraps it around her shoulders. Her flinch feels like a stab to my heart, yet Henry continues on like it didn't happen.
"I'm going to pick you up now." Henry doesn't leave room for any argument and doesn't hesitate when she turns still as a board. It's awkward and hard to watch them inch out of the small space together, but they manage with Ridge's help.Christ, I'm a piece of shit right now.
With my soul in my throat and tears wetting my cheeks, I follow behind Henry as he murmurs in Nina's ear about my surprise. Instead of taking her to bed like I assumed he would, Henry aims for the stairs.
Trevor grumbles something about safety and rushes forward to grab Henry's arm as they descend. Numbness is settling over me like a safety net, but when Henry makes eye contact with me in front of the small door beneath the stairs, I jolt out of it.
"Go in, Kai. I'll hand her to you," Henry whispers, eyes intent.
Me?"I don't think?—"
"Go." Trevor pushes me.
Shit. Crouching, I fit my way through the new door and spin around to help Nina inside with me. Thankfully, the new custom sized cushion on the ground saves my old man knees from the hardwoods.
The string of lights in the highest point of the short ceiling are already on and light my way as I cradle Nina to my chest. I shimmy backward and attempt not to collapse, but I do anyway because this little nest is only meant for the tiny woman in my arms.
"Oof!"
Ridge's head pokes through the doorway with a raised brow. "Good thing you have a whole pillow store in there."
"Says you!" I hear Henry sass beyond the door.
Then Trevor says, "If anyone buys any more pillows, I'm blocking Pinterest, Amazon,andEtsy from all of your damn phones."
Ridge's face goes from laughter to sheer horror as he disappears from view. "You wouldn't!"
A soft giggle against my pec shocks me, sending dopamine and a whole fuck ton of relief through my body. "Flora?"
Nina nods and sniffles but doesn't look up at me. "I-I'm okay."
"Fuck, Nina," I breathe and wrap my free arm around her upper body to cradle the back of her head. "What happened?"
