Forever We Fall: Broken #4 (The Broken Series) Read Online Free PDF

urine and weighing myself without thinking too much about what laid ahead of me. When I was finished I leaned against the sink, feeling weak and drained, and forced myself to look in the mirror.
    I cringed at the sight of the washed-out woman looking back at me. Wild, unruly brown curls restrained in a haphazard pony tail. Large gray eyes accompanied by dark purple circles and thick clotted eyelashes. Gaunt cheekbones stained with streaks of dried-in tears. A couple of freckles flecked over the bridge of a small nose. Swollen uneven lips that were both chaffed and cracked. Well, I looked like I felt…
    Grabbing my toothbrush, I opened my mouth and immediately felt a stinging sensation. Raising my fingers to my mouth I realized why. My bottom lip had split. The sight of the paltry dribble of blood on my index finger caused my stomach to retch and I quickly wiped it away with a tissue. Forcing myself not to shudder and dwell on my previous encounters with blood, I opened the cabinet that doubled as a mirror and grabbed my prescription. The pills that would keep me alive for another day.
    When I walked into the kitchen not even the sight of my estranged mother sitting at my kitchen table, at five o clock in the morning, could stir a reaction out of me.
    Don't feel too much…don't crack…
    "Hello," I said in a calm tone as I stepped through the doorway. My gaze landed on Derek first, whose eyes bulged as he made a poor attempt at hiding a mop behind his back. I noticed Kyle nudge a mop-bucket under the table before coming to my side. The warmth of his arm around my waist eased some small part of my subconscious that was demanding I run . His lips on my hair steadied my breathing. The blue in his eyes soothed some emotion inside of me that only he could summon, and the stench of bleach on his clothes caused my eyes to water…
    "I'll…ah…just go check on Hope," Derek mumbled before rushing out of the room, leaving me alone with my mother and Kyle.
    "I'm sorry, Lia," Tracy suddenly blurted out. "For not showing up to dinner tonight. For leaving you with that man. For every bad thing you've had to endure because of my cowardly behavior."
    "It's Lee," I replied softly. Stepping away from Kyle, I went and sat on a chair opposite my mother. This moment was long overdue. I understood that now. I needed to do this in order to move on. "My name is Lee."
    "Yes, yes, of course…" Tracy's voice trailed off as she studied my face. "Are you okay? You look so pale, darling?"
    Darling. Darling. Darling. Darling… My cool contained state of my mind shattered. The mental walls I'd placed around myself came crashing down the instant I heard that endearment. A tremor rolled through my body and I gasped for air, but every desperate breath I drew into my lungs was laced with panic. It all suddenly became too much, too overwhelming, and I cracked...
    My mother sitting in front of me alive and well. My father's threats and lifelong beatings. That stupid television show. The anti-rejection meds that were disintegrating in the hot sweaty palm of my fist. The red-headed devil who was lying in wait for me. I was walking into her lair in eight weeks. Fifty-six days….
    A noise ripped from my throat and two pairs of eyes landed on me. I covered my mouth with my hand, but it was too late. The hysteria bubbling inside me had come to a boil and I laughed. I freaking cackled. I wasn't sure why I was laughing, but I guessed it was laugh or cry…
    "Jesus Christ, Lee," Kyle hissed. "You're okay, baby. I got you," he promised as he crouched in front of me. Tears spilled from my eyes as the cackling coming from my throat turned into a soft wail at the sight of concern on his face. Gently pushing my head between my legs, Kyle rubbed my back in smooth steady circles. "Shh, that's it, princess," he crooned when I started to breathe more easily. "Good girl. Nice slow breaths…"
    "I'm all right, Kyle," I whispered, feeling embarrassed and overwhelmed as I