Free Fractured Hearts (Shattered Lives, Book Three) by Rissa Blakeley

could no longer be contained and rolled down her cheeks.
    Throwing Elaina to the side, Henry sat up and belted out a scream she never heard from him before. She jumped up, grabbed him, and made him look at her. His eyes were glazed over.
    “Henry. It’s okay. You’re okay.” He was breathing fast. “He can’t hurt you anymore.” His entire body shook as he wiped the couple of tears trickling from his eyes. “You all right?”
    “I think so,” he whispered between pants.
    Elaina had an eerie feeling he wasn’t awake as she watched his anxious eyes looking around the room. “Lover?”
    “Shh,” he commanded, a finger to his lips as he stood. His shirt clung to his sweaty torso.
    “Henry?”
    “I said to be quiet, Sophie!”
    “Henry, it’s Elaina.” She was worried, unable tell if he was sleepwalking or having a flashback.
    “Shut it, Sophie! I think he’s coming.”
    Elaina stood and walked toward him. “Who? Who’s coming, Henry?”
    “Why do you keep calling me by my middle name? You know my name is Liam.”
    For a moment, Elaina felt like she was living in his nightmare, on the edge of reality tangling with insanity. “Okay… Liam, who’s coming?”
    “Have you lost your fucking mind? Roger! I won’t let him hurt you. He’ll have to get through me first.”
    Elaina grabbed his shoulders in an effort to try and shake him awake.
    With all the bad timing in the world, someone knocked on the door. Henry yanked Elaina by her arm, throwing her out of the way. He bolted through the door and, without pausing, started fighting whoever it was.
    “Henry!” Elaina screamed. She jumped into the mess of limbs and grunts, trying to peel him away. She watched in horror when he slammed Gunther’s head into the tiled floor. “Henry!” she yelled again, getting thrown off Henry’s back.
    Quinn came running out of her and Gunther’s room. “What the hell is going on?!”
    “Henry! Stop!” Elaina shouted as she tried to pull him off of Gunther again, but he was in a complete rage.
    Gunther somehow managed to flip him over and punch him in the face a few times. Eventually, he was able to pin Henry’s arms down with his knees, then pulled out his Sig and pressed it to Henry’s head, holding his other hand around his throat, choking him.
    A constant drip of blood was running from Gunther’s mouth onto Henry’s face. He breathed heavily through his nose, rage tremoring through his body.
    “Gunther! Please don’t!” Elaina screamed as she yanked at his thick shoulders.
    “Give me a reason not to!” Gunther growled, not even looking at her.
    “He’s having a flashback or something. Please! Let him go. Please! I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Elaina sobbed.
    Legs flailing, Henry tried to kick Gunther off. His eyes were huge, set in his red-rimmed sockets and, judging by the purple coloring blooming on his face, shit was hitting the fan real fast.
    With all the calm, cool, and collectedness in the world, Quinn knelt, putting one hand on Gunther’s shoulder. “Gun…” She ran her hand down the arm that held Henry’s throat. Her voice was soft, smoothing out his seething breaths. “Let him go. He obviously didn’t know it was you.”
    Gunther looked back and forth between Quinn and Henry, then released his grip. Henry gasped and coughed.
    “Do it again, you little prat,” Gunther growled, putting his Sig away. “I fucking dare you.” He stood and spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
    “Come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up.” Quinn grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall, toward the clinic.
    “I was just checking on him. He’s fucking mental,” Gunther snarled.
    “I know your intentions were good. He’s going through withdrawals. That, coupled with the issues he already has… It’s just not a good combination,” she murmured as they walked.

    I came to while Gunther was choking me. Dazed, I had no idea what was going on.