10. Windsor

CHAPTER 10

Gasping awake, I feel both freezing cold and boiling hot at the same time. The urge to vomit pushes at me as I try to crawl my way from the bed without waking Tanner and Tucker. I know I'm unsuccessful when I land on the floor with a loud thump and a painful groan.

"Whoa, baby, we'll help," one of them says. I'm shaking my head as I make a mad dash for the bathroom, slamming the door in someone's face before heaving over the toilet bowl.

Pushing the hair off my face, I wretch non-stop until my stomach feels like it's coming up next. My body aches in a way I've never felt before, and I can't stop shivering. My heart is racing, and my vision is blurry, too.

I've been feeling off almost all day—since lunch, at least. I was drowsy earlier, and my men put me to bed before we ever got a chance to go out for dinner. I feel like I'm outside my body as I attempt to gain the strength to get up, but my head swims with buzzing in my ears.

Groaning, I collapse next to the toilet when I hear Tan and Tuck pounding on the door, making my head worse. Eventually, they just enter. Rushing to my side, my eyes are too unfocused to figure out which one picks me up and which one is on the phone speaking to someone. I only know that I feel like I can't breathe and my body is betraying me.

"Gonna be sick," I slur and wind up puking on whoever is holding me. A minute later, they're stepping into a warm shower with me clothed and still in their arms. "I don't feel good," I murmur as black surrounds the edges of my vision.

"Sshh, baby doll, everything will be okay. An ambulance is on the way now." Tucker. He sounds concerned, but I can't give it much thought because, in the next minute, I'm swallowed into the black abyss of nothingness.

"She's coming around," I hear as someone is knuckling my chest with a rough fist as pain assaults me. "Miss James? I need you to open your eyes," that same person says. A bump makes my body bounce as beeping alerts me to the fact that I might be in an ambulance.

Still cold. Still hot. Still feeling like my body is about to explode.

"What happened?" I groan as I try to lift my hand to my pounding head.

"Miss James, wake up." They sound like they're yelling through a tunnel now, as the beeping goes haywire. "Faster, Marie! I'm losing her."

I feel…hollow.

A warmness grazes me like a soft breeze, and I want to follow it. It feels like…like…Mom.

"Mom, come back!" I cry out.

At least, I think I do.

I don't know anymore.

"Mom." My broken sobs make my body feel like it's splintering into a thousand pieces of broken glass, and I'll never be put back together again.

"Clear!" gets yelled, and my body lights up like I've stuck my finger in a light socket. I did that once when I was four; I don't recommend it. "She's back." That voice. Who is that? "Windsor, sweetheart, stay with me. You'll get through this."

"Okay," my voice croaks, and I know I actually spoke this time because my throat is on fire.

"What drugs is she on?" I blink my eyes open at the new voice. The lights are too bright, so I close them again. I feel people poking and prodding at my body, covering me in some spots while exposing me in others.

"She's not on any fucking drugs." Tucker is big mad. His voice is too calm, too collected.

"A toxicology screen will tell us what she's been taking. Knowing sooner would be helpful, Mr. Graham. We could treat her faster and avoid any permanent damage."

I try to raise my hand to tell them I'm not on anything stronger than an Advil for my period. I don't like drugs. Or alcohol, for that matter. I like to be in control of myself. Except when Tucker and Tanner control me—that I enjoy.

"She doesn't drink often, and she doesn't take drugs." Tanner is about to lose his cool. The pitch in his tone escalates on the last word. That, he yells.

"Let's go over your day then. What has she eaten or drank that you haven't?"

"The cake," my guys say simultaneously, breaking my heart.

Did someone poison me through cake? Why would they do that?

My heart rate is rising again. My pulse is pounding painfully in my ears, and I feel wetness around my mouth.

"She's bleeding!" a woman yells.

There's a flurry of movement I can't see, but I can feel, and when a tube is stuck down my throat, my body finally wakes up, trying to fight them off, until I'm strapped down and become drowsy. They must have sedated me.

What is happening to me?

Am I going to die?

I don't want to; I'm too young.

Mom would be so sad.

"She's waking up," a soft-spoken, feminine voice says from somewhere to my left. Warmth infuses me, and my hands are being held on both sides. My eyes flutter as I struggle to open them.

"Sweetheart?" Tucker.

"Hey, baby." Tanner.

I open my mouth to speak, but I feel like all the moisture has been sucked out, and I can't get my lips or tongue to move correctly.

"It's alright, Windsor. You're going to be fine. Don't push yourself to do anything but rest and try opening your eyes," the first voice instructs.

The feel of lips on my hands makes me smile, and I become emotional. My throat grows tight with it. "Sshhh, baby, everything is fine. We're both right here, and we're not going anywhere." It's Tanner's promise that helps soothe me and allows me to calm down enough to relax and fall into a deep sleep that isn't filled with worry and pain.