Page 291 of Ruin Me Gently

Clark was a corpse between us.

We pulled, we struggled, each step harder than the last, water grabbing at our limbs, making everything sluggish and impossible.

Silas grunted through the roar around us. “Lilith, we don’t have time for this!”

“I can’t leave him!” The words ripped out of me, and I fucking hated myself for it.

Silas all but growled, but didn’t let go. Didn’t stop. Didn’t leave me behind.

The water was pulling him down.

And we were pulling him up.

Fighting. Failing. Twitching.

“Come on, come on,” I gasped, fingers clawing into Clark’s drenched shirt, hauling him inch by inch out of the sinking yacht. Silas grunted beside me, planting his feet against the wood, dragging with everything he had against the water.

“Fucking, move!” Silas barked, giving one last, brutal heave.

Clark’s body flopped onto the dock, motionless.

I staggered back, chest heaving, rain and ocean spray blurring my vision.

“Now, come on. Let’s go, Lilith!” Silas shouted over the wind, already turning away.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Clark wasn’t breathing.

I dropped to my knees.

“No—no, no, no—” my hands shook violently as I pressed my fingers to Clark’s throat.

No pulse, no movement, no shallow rise of his chest.

Waves crashed around us, spilling freezing, foamy water over my knees, soaking his lifeless body.

This wasn’t happening.

“Come on,” I gasped, shoving my hands against his ribcage, pressing down hard.

I didn’t know what I was doing. Just doing something.Anything.

“Lilith, we have to go. NOW.”

I ignored him. I pushed harder, my hands slamming down against Clark’s chest, over and over.

“Breathe, you asshole!” My voice cracked. My arms burned. Bones shifted beneath my palms cracking from the weight.

I hit again, harder, gritting my teeth as I pressed every last ounce of desperation into my hands. “Breathe, Clark!”

Silas grabbed me, his hands closing tight around my arms, yanking me back. “Lilith, stop!”

I wrenched free, pulse slamming against my skull, my whole body quaking. “I can’t—he can’t die!”

Lifeless. Still. Hollow.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he shouted, voice raw with disbelief. He shoved me aside, dropping onto his knees next to me. “Move, Lilith.”

His hands trembled for a fraction of a second before he pressed them down over Clark’s chest and started compressions.

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