Free Feel by Karen-Anne Stewart

I want to pull her into my arms and protect her from every fucking bad thing this life has thrown at her.  Before I can say anything else, she runs, and my heart stops beating.  I don’t think of anything else but her.  Saving her.  Healing her.  Making her forget all the shit she’s been through. 
    Cops are everywhere as I burst through the door behind Saige, seeing her head bobbing a few yards ahead of me.  Damn, she’s fast .  She always has been, and I’m already breathing heavily from the exertion of trying to catch her.  I’m almost within reach to grab her arm when two cops jump in front of me, yelling for me to stop.  Hunching my shoulder forward, I brace for the impact as I ram myself in between them.  They grunt in pain, but I don’t take the time to look back.  I have to get to Saige. 
    Her long, dark hair whips wildly behind her slender frame as she crests the hill above the stadium.  My heart beats furiously in my chest as I yell her name.  When she crosses onto the football field, I reach for her just as she screams another man’s name.  I don’t have time to concentrate on the pain of hearing her calling for some other guy or enjoy the thoughts of breaking every damn bone in his body before the force of the blast knocks us off our feet just as I’ve almost got her pulled against me.  The gust knocks us airborne, and I’m trying to keep my grasp on Saige’s arm when my head smacks against a concrete bleacher.  Flashes of light dance in the air and I squint my eyes, trying to push past the stabbing pain in my head and neck so I can find her.  Saige is crumpled on the ground and I’ve never been so fucking scared seeing her looking so small and not moving.  All air is stripped from my lungs when she doesn’t respond as I call her name.  Tears blur my vision when I touch her face, praying for her to open her eyes.  Her lashes flutter, and I nearly fall to my knees with relief.  “Are you alright, Saige?”
    Saige’s hand is shaking when she points her finger at the blood running down my cheek.  I don’t give a shit about my head; I just need to know she’s okay.  I try to keep her still as she fights to stand.  It’s so damn hard to breathe, but I don’t know how much of that is from the smoke and debris or how much of it is from the sickening realization that calling in the threat probably caused double the amount of people to die than the original bomb would have.  Regret and guilt bombard my soul but I can’t think of that now; I have to take care of Saige. 
    She whimpers and falls to her knees, brushing the hair off a girl’s face.  A dead girl.  Saige’s friend is dead and it’s my fucking fault!  A heart shattering scream leaves Saige’s lips and I can’t hold the tears back any longer as I witness her crushing grief.  I reach for her, but she fights me, pulling away.  She looks so damn lost standing in the rubble of the demolished stadium.  I can tell the second the crowd’s emotions break through her shock because she looks as if someone punched her hard in the stomach and she starts to fall.  Lunging forward, I catch her just before she hits the jagged debris and lift her limp body.  I carefully shelter her against my chest while I rush as fast as I can through the devastation to get her away from the crowd. 
    Andy steps beside me.  He doesn’t say a word when he sees me.  He doesn’t have to.  Andy’s never seen me show much of any kind of emotion.  For all intents and purposes, my life ended the day I left Saige.  I simply went through the motions for four long, torturing years.  Now, I’ve been with her for less than twenty-four hours and she's already breathing life back into me.  She’s the one who feels everyone’s emotions, but the feelings she stirs inside my heart scares the living shit out of me.  I’d die and kill for this girl, and, right now, I’d give my life to take away her pain.
    “Is she -” Andy starts to ask