Celaena was talking to her. Talking. Talking. But Aery couldn't hear it. She made eye contact with Celaena, her eyes going wide with panic. She brought her hand up to her ear, slowly, gritting her teeth to keep from screaming as she forced the broken bones to move. She just barely touched her ear and hissed in pain, for just that tiny touch felt like knives drilling into it. Her fingers were sticky with blood.
Aery looked at Celaena, squinting, for suddenly everything was very blurry. Her mouth formed the words "I'm sorry." And then her eyes closed all the way. Breathing felt like it was killing her, red-hot knives in her ribs and sides, so she simply decided to not breathe. And by then she was too far gone to really think at all.