Page 184 of Skate the Line

Fifty-Three

SUNNY

Ellie ispale from the shock. I reach back behind my seat and touch her leg. She looks okay. Her seatbelt is intact, and other than wide eyes, she looks perfectly normal.

“Ellie, are you okay, sweetie?”

She nods quickly, little pieces of hair falling into her face.

Marco is unconscious, and I know I should be panicking, but instead, I jump into action.

My phone flew somewhere from the sudden hit, so I unbuckle my seatbelt and look around. Unable to find it, I open the car door and slide out of the passenger seat. Glass crunches beneath me from the broken side mirror, so I’m careful to step over it and open Ellie’s door.She’s okay.I give her a quick hug and search the backseat for my phone.

We need to call the police.

And an ambulance.

“Marco.” I reach forward and give his shoulder a shake.

“Sunny, you’re bleeding.”

“Huh?”

Ellie points at my cheek. My cold hand touches the burning sensation beneath my eye, and I wince. My fingers are stained with blood, but I shake my head. “I’m okay. We have to wake Marco up. Do you know where my phone went?”

Ellie’s eyes gloss over, and her bottom lip starts to shake.

“Hey, hey.” I place my hands on her cheeks. A tear slips out, and I shush her. “We’re okay, Ellie. Do you trust me?”

She nods.

“Good. I’m not going to leave you, okay? I’m just going to go around to Marco’s side of the car and wake him up and drive us to the hospital, yeah?”

“Okay.” She sucks up her tears and nods.

I shut her door and look both ways, hoping for someone to come along to help us.

It’s quiet, though. A thin layer of snow covers the road, and besides the tire marks from us and the other car who hit us and sped away, there’s nothing.

It’s a quiet street, not too far from Rhodes’s neighborhood. Someone will come eventually, but can we wait?

Where is my phone?

My head starts to pound.

I open Marco’s door with force. The car hit the driver’s side, but it was really the backseat that sustained most of the damage.

Thank God Ellie was behind me instead of him.

“Marco!” I say, shaking his shoulder again.

He begins to stir.

I place my cold hand on his chin, trying to get him to see me. He blinks a few times, but his eyes won’t focus. “Marco, I need you to get to the passenger side.”

“Chto?” he slurs.

Ellie pipes up from the back. “That meanswhatin Russian.”

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