"Nina..."
I took a step forward, but she recoiled instantly, pressing herself so hard into the wall, I wouldn't be surprised if she disappeared into it.
"Stay there," she snapped. Her voice trembled, brittle with terror. "Don't...don't come any closer."
I froze, hands lifted slightly in surrender. The room felt like a held breath, thick and suffocating.
"Nina," I said softly, "it's me. What happened?"
Her throat bobbed. She glanced anywhere but at me. The scattered papers everywhere, the cracked lamp on the floor, the smear blood on her own wrist. Anywhere that wasn't my face.
"I..." she trailed off, her voice cracked.
She sucked in a deep, shaky breath then shook her head like she could physically push the memory out of her skull.
Then, all at once, the fight drained out of her shoulders.
Her gaze dropped to the floor, her lips trembling.
Her breath hitched, shoulders curling inward as if the weight of the moment were crushing her.
