The Forbidden Throb (Emma and Daniel) novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Emma’s POV:

43%

Each vehicle splashed by without slowing, their warm, dry interiors a crue reminder of comfort just beyond reach.

So much for calling a rideshare, I thought, checking my phone again.

The app showed wait times of forty-five minutes or longer – the storm had apparently brought transportation to a standstill across the area.

Only public buses maintained their routes, soldiering through the downpour with stubborn reliability.

When the 86 bus finally appeared through the rain-blurred night, I nearly sobbed with relief. I climbed aboard, water dripping from my hair and clothes, earning a sympathetic grimace from the driver.

“Rough night, huh?” he asked as I fumbled for my transit pass.

“You could say that,” I managed, my teeth beginning to chatter.

The heat inside the bus did little to penetrate my sodden clothes.

I found a seat near the middle, away from other passengers, and leaned my forehead against the cool window. Streetlights smeared into watery brushstrokes as we moved through the storm.

What a spectacularly awful day, I thought bitterly.

From spotting Nicholas at the mall and watching him buy that silver necklace for Megan right in front of me, to being summoned home by

Victoria only to discover she and Robert had been secretly asking Nicholas for money behind my back, and now getting caught in this relentless downpour.

The universe was clearly determined to remind me just how small and insignificant I really was.

By the time the bus reached my stop, I was shivering uncontrollably.

The walk to my dormitory building felt interminable, rain penetrating to my skin. When I finally stumbled into my room, I didn’t even bother

turning on the lights.

I simply peeled off my wet clothes, took a hot shower, pulled on the warmest pajamas I could find, and collapsed into bed, too exhausted to

even dry my hair,

Morning arrived with a dull pounding in my temples and an uncomfortable heat beneath my skin,

I blinked at the ceiling, trying to will away the heaviness in my limbs. Myhroat felt like I’d swallowed sandpaper.

“Great,” I croaked to the empty room.

Olivia had left for a journalism conference in New York yesterday; the neal arrangement of her desk and perfectly made bed somehow made my

side of the room seem even more chaotic and pathetic.

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10:55 Mon, Mar 9 M M

Chapter 17

I forced myself to sit up, immediately regretting the movement as the room tilted alarmingly.

林命43%真

I had a research paper due for Professor Laurent’s class, and I couldn’t afford to miss my afternoon tutorial. Fumbling for my phone, I saw it was already past eleven – I’d slept through my morning alarm.

Just push through it, I told myself, swallowing a couple of ibuprofen dry. You’ve managed worse.”

I managed to make it to my afternoon class, though I remembered little of the lecture.

The day passed in a blur of lectures I could barely focus on and conversations I couldn’t follow.

By evening, the shivers had returned despite the unnatural heat radiating rom my skin. I tried to concentrate on my laptop screen, but the words swam before my eyes, refusing to arrange themselves into coherent sentences.

When I finally gave up on work and decided to get some more medicine from the communal kitchen down the hall, I found myself strangely disoriented.

The corridor seemed longer than usual, the walls bending at odd angles.

This isn’t right, I thought distantly, placing one hand against the wall to steady myself.

The cool surface felt shockingly good against my palm. I closed my eyes for just a moment, trying to gather my strength.

The next thing I knew, someone was saying my name, their voice seeming to come from the bottom of a well.

“Emma? Emma, can you hear me?”

I tried to respond, but my tongue felt too large for my mouth.

There were hands on my shoulders, then under my knees. The sensation of being lifted, of floating.

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