Vulnerable

Prologue

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It was instantaneous. 

Breath-taking. 

Earth-shattering.

Unexpected.

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It had her gripping for life in a haze.  Everything was a blur—the lights, signs, music, everything.  There was the collision that shook her and broke her.  She shut down within seconds, but her conscious was awake for the briefest amount of time.  Her eyes drifted to the passenger seat at her cell phone, bright with life.  With eyelids falling, her hands were moving towards the light. 

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She breathed in; it was a shallow heave.  It shook her ribcage, lungs, heart, all of it.  Such a small thing did so much damage.  Her mind was slow-paced but reminded her of something.  First it was a whisper when she said his name.  Then she was whimpering.  Crying out.  Her hands moved from her sides to her stomach, tracing and feeling.  She screamed as her innards were strangled.  Finally, eyelids forced apart, she saw the red between her thighs.

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Running was something that she was never good at doing.  The moment that she stepped out of her car and onto the pavement, though, she was sprinting through the doors.  Reds and blues were blinding her worse than her own tears.  She had grabbed someone in a white outfit and shouted something that was immediately a misfire.  Being pushed away from the scene, she couldn’t look away from the huddle of men and women.  A glimpse of her future was on that table, breathing in electricity from two paddles and then going limp.

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It wasn’t right.  It wasn’t real it was fake it didn’t happen. 

It did.

She was gone.