Page 77 of Shattered Mind

The left-hand side of my car hits the deer with a jerking force. The weather and loose gravel send the car to the side, and I lose control. My hands slip from the wheel, and I try to slam my foot on the brake but in my panicked state I miss, hitting the accelerator. The car speeds up and I try to regain control of the wheel but before I can, I go careening across the road towards a grass bank.

I vaguely hear Savannah’s voice calling my name as I close my eyes and brace. I hit the bank with violent force and my air bag deploys, sending my head back against the seat.

The sound of metal crunching and glass breaking mixes with my screams as the car becomes airborne. Loose belongings in the car fall around me, some of them hitting me but I keep my eyes closed as I’m jerked from left to right violently.

After what feels like hours the car finally stops moving and I open my eyes. Pain immediately explodes all over my body. My ears ring and the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth as I try to get my bearings.

I’m upside down.

My head pounds as I look around me, searching for anything to get me out of here. I search around for my phone but come up empty and panic sets in.

Flashbacks of the night my parents died assault me as the car groans and glass falls around me. I can hear my mum as she cries out for my dad. The sound of sirens in the distance. The silence that followed as she fell unconscious.

My vision blurs and I try to blink but my eyelids feel like they have weights attached to them.

Everything hurts.

I can’t breathe.

I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out. Blood trickles down my arm and I try to lift it, but my limbs are heavy with exhaustion. I suck in painful breath after breath as blackness creeps in around the edges andswallows me whole.

CHAPTER 43

GRAYSON

“You know we have a farrier on site, right?” Hunter says as he hands me the hoof pick.

“I’m aware,” I say as I remove the dirt from Caspers hoof.

“So, why are you out here in the rain doing it instead of letting Mikey handle it?” Mikey is the on-site farrier he was referring to earlier. I could’ve let him do it. He’s good at his job, but I’ve worked hard to get Casper to where he is now, and I don’t want to risk undoing all that hard work by letting a man he’s never met change his shoes.

I pause and look up at him. “I’m not in the rain,” I gesture to the barn around us.

Hunter rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. It’s cold as balls out here. There’s a storm rolling in.”

“Well, you don’t have to be out here,” I remind him as I go back to digging the mud from Caspers hoof.

“I know, but I saw the light on and thought I’d come check on you.”

I raise a brow at him. “I’m fine.”

Hunter props a shoulder against the stable wall and crosses his legs at the ankle. “How’s things with Liv?”

“Fine,” I mumble, trying to ignore the way my pulse kicks up at the mention of her name.

She went quiet on me earlier this week and although her friends claimed she was sick, something about it didn’t sit right with me. But, to my surprise, when I woke up this morning, I had the usual daily horse joke and when I went to the café on the off chance she was there, I was greeted by her smiling face.

Turns out, I was overthinking after all.

“I’ve minded my own business when it comes to you two, but I have to ask, do you know what you’re doing there, man?” his tone is careful, like he’s afraid of how I’ll react to his question.

I put down the tool and look him in the eyes. “I care about her, Hunter. We’re just enjoying each other’s company right now, that’s it.”

Hunter searches my face. “Just don’t hurt her man. I don’t wanna be in a position where my future wife hates my brother.”

I open my mouth to respond but pause as a ghostly pale Savannah comes into view in the entryway of the barn. Water drips off her rain-soaked hair as she tries to catch her breath.

Hunter must see the concern on my face because he follows my line of sight with furrowed brows. As soon as his eyes land on his fiancée in the doorway he’s moving.

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