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

While lying on my side and rubbing my throat, Elaina leaned down and helped me up.
    “Henry, are you with me now?”
    “Yeah,” I groaned. “What the fuck happened?” I rubbed the side of my head, expecting it to be split open.
    “I think you were sleepwalking, having a nightmare or a flashback. I don’t know. Plus, with your detox…”
    Then a wave a nausea hit me again. I was fucking tired of that. “I feel like I’m going to be sick,” I mumbled.
    Elaina dragged me back into our room in time for me to dry heave into the bucket. When my stomach finally stopped rolling, she wiped my face with a wet cloth and made me rinse my mouth out.
    “Come on. Lie down,” she coaxed.
    No problem, I thought, as she helped get me in bed. Her fingers swiped over the marks around my throat. She tried talking to me several times before I rolled over so my back was to her. I was mortified by my behavior and wasn’t in the chatting mood.
    After several attempts to get me to respond, I murmured, “I’m going to leave you alone and go check on Gunther.”

    When Elaina walked out of the room, her entire body began shaking. She leaned against the wall next to the door to steady herself, but slid down it instead. Her stomach cramped, her heart pounded. Knowing it was a lie, she continued telling herself it was only temporary and he would be better once the alcohol left his system.
    Henry would never be better. He would always be broken.
    Feeling her world imploding, Elaina pulled her knees in and wrapped her arms around them. She couldn’t handle him anymore. She couldn’t muster the emotional strength to deal with him and his issues another second. Closing her eyes, she rested her head on her knees. Her heavy black curtain of hair fell around her body, sealing her off from the critical public eye. Exhaustion made her impossibly weaker by the minute.
    As Quinn and Gunther came back down the hall, Elaina knew there was no way she could move to spare herself an interrogation. Her body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. She heard Quinn tell Gunther to go to their room and she would be there in a minute. She sat on the floor next to Elaina and wrapped her arm around her shoulders.
    “Hey, hon. Gunther feels bad about what happened. He said he would like to apologize to him once Henry is squared away.”
    “I can’t do this anymore,” Elaina whispered.
    “I’m sorry?” Quinn questioned, tucking Elaina’s hair behind her ear.
    “ This ,” she hissed. “I can’t fucking do it anymore.”
    “You don’t have a choice, Elaina.”
    “That’s part of the problem. I have to deal with him because who else would? It’s too hard to try and survive, plus take care of someone who is so fucked up.”
    “Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy, but there’s always hope.”
    Elaina barked out a sarcastic laugh, thinking that Quinn was just as mental as everyone else. “I think I cashed in all my hope months ago,” Elaina muttered. “You have no idea how long I’ve been battling him. So many times, I’ve had to drag him somewhere when he could barely walk. Or clean up his vomit. Or deal with his rages, his tears, his pleas.”
    “Do you love him?”
    “With all of my heart.”
    “Then it’s worth the effort.”
    Elaina wiped the tears, snot dripping down her face. “You don’t understand.”
    “How do I not understand? You do know Gunther is just like him, right?”
    “Not really. He’s not an alcoholic. Besides, you are much stronger than I am.” The fact of the matter was Quinn had miles of strength stacked up, and Elaina felt hers had taken the five o’clock train months prior.
    “That’s not true. I’ve had plenty of meltdowns. Most have been in private, though.”
    After eavesdropping in on Quinn and Elaina’s conversation, Gunther decided he needed to go out and talk to her.
    When a door opened, Elaina looked up. Gunther stood in the doorway with a blood-stained cloth pressed to his mouth. He looked like how