Broken Heart Blogfest Entry

As usual I'm *fashionably* late ;-) My apologies boys and girls. I got a little side tracked--trust me, it wasn't my fault, it's just that there were all these Buffy reruns on and, well, you can't pass up good Buffy...

So I wrote this scene as part of a character-sketch for one of my House of Reinhardt characters, Alessandra. Alessandra is a secondary character who has a major crush on her ex (my protagonist), Erik.
**This scene is a rough draft and will never actually be written into the book. It exists to help me see who Alessandra is and where she is 'now'.

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Alessandra doubled over, unsure whether she was going to vomit or scream. Her stomach turned over and over, twisting like a wrung towel. Twin lumps rose up in her chest just above her lungs until she could barely suck in the air her lungs needed. A slow burn crept its way through her throat and she realized her mouth was open, trying to take in great lungfuls of air, but it wasn’t working. Slowly, Alessandra realized she wasn’t inhaling. Placing a hand over her throat, she focused and took one shaky breath.

Oh God, what had she been thinking? She’d had such a great thing going with Erik; why did she have to screw that up by getting together with Collin? She didn’t even like Collin. Sure he was good looking. And yes, he came from a great family. And okay, sure, he was going to be an important leader one day. But Erik trumped him in all three areas.

So why had she been cheating on him for over a month, having Collin up to her room as soon as Erik went out on patrol? Why hadn’t she been more careful? Dammit. The look on his face when he’d walked in on her and Collin had been terrifying. He’d gone through shock, hurt, anger, and hatred in five seconds flat.

Just remembering that look brought tears stinging to her eyes. There was an actual pain in the center of her chest. If felt like someone had frozen her heart, then smashed it to bits with a sledge hammer.

He would never actually hurt her-- she knew that better than he probably did. But he’d wanted to, God he’d wanted to. She could see it in his eyes. Of course, the way he clenched and unclenched his fists was a dead giveaway too. Collin hadn’t been so lucky. Erik had exploded into motion before Collin could pull himself off the bed. A few minutes later he’d turned on her, and, after a few choice words, Erik had said it was over. He’d told her they were done.

Now Collin was cradling his broken nose, screaming at her to call a doctor. But Alessandra stood frozen, holding a sheet to her bare chest, standing in the doorway, and watching Erik walk away. The pressure in her chest grew heavier and she gasped for breath as hot tears streamed down her cheeks.

How could this be happening? Erik loved her. He was just angry right now, but he couldn’t stay mad at her forever. He’d forgive her. He’d take her back. He had to. It couldn’t be over. They were meant to be together. She just had to show him.