Vanessa moaned softly, clutching her side. She needed his full attention, but the torment was genuine now, and it appeared in her trembling hands.
"I… I think I hurt my back," she whined, her eyes flashing open just sufficient to capture his expression.
"Do not move," Haven said, his voice abruptly firm. He pulled out his phone and dialled for an ambulance, his ordinarily relentless hands shaking as he squeezed the numbers. "It's going to be alright. I'll get you to the hospital. just hang in there."
From the kitchen door, Alexis stood observing, her heart bending in her chest as she watched the scene. Her husband, Haven, was hovering on Vanessa, his ex-girlfriend, with a delicacy that Alexis hadn't seen in months. She clenched her jaw, her fingernails burrowing into her palms a
