Ellen just stood there on the sidewalk, frozen, her breath were shallow, and her thoughts were all over the place after that scare. She blinked a few times, trying to ground herself, but the image of the speeding car kept popping into her head.
From beside her, Gerald's voice broke the silence. "You should be grateful to me, you know," he said. He folded his arms over his chest, his eyes still locked on her, as if waiting for a proper response.
Ellen's gaze shifted to him, her expression still blank, her brain trying to catch up with everything that had just happened. She opened her mouth, but for a moment, no words came out.
Finally, she muttered, "Thank you for saving me."
Though her voice was flat, almost mechanical, as if she was saying it out of obligation rather than from any real sense of thankfulness, Ellen was really grateful for what Gerald did; she was just trying to calm herself down.