Chapter 172. I Release You

Jeremy’s POV

I had been sitting here for so long that the plastic chair beneath me had molded to my weight, or maybe I had gone numb enough not to feel it anymore. My hands were clasped together, fingers interlocked so tightly my knuckles had turned pale, yet I hadn’t noticed when it happened.

Carrying her in earlier had felt mechanical, like my body was moving ahead of my mind, like instinct had taken over because if I stopped to think, I might have shattered completely.

I had been afraid she would die.

That fear had been sharp, animalistic, clawing at my chest as I held her weight and felt how fragile she was, how wrong that felt. But now that fear had dulled into something heavier. Anger. A quiet, simmering anger that sat in my lungs and refused to let me breathe properly.

I didn’t pray—didn’t pace. I just sat there.

When Carol finally came toward me, I shifted and looked up at her. Her steps were hesitant, face pale. I was eager to hear