Page 10 of Been There Dragon That
Rylee took Ayla’s outstretched hand and let her friend pull her to her feet.
“I will come back to the house. We’ll listen to them all together, no regrets, and delete them after. Then you block his number. Deal?”
“Deal.” Rylee tucked her phone into her pocket and trailed through the coffee shop behind her friend to the door.
They stepped out into the warm summer morning air. The breeze carried the scent of pine from the park across the street, but it couldn’t block out the rancid smell of the contents in the trashcan on the edge of the sidewalk. Or the sticky sweet residue on the brick sidewalk where someone had dropped a jelly donut. And the acrid smell of oil and asphalt drifted up from the street.
Nature didn’t have a chance in a city this big.
“I’m parked across the street.” Rylee pointed to the parking lot. “You?”
“Yep,” Ayla said, checking the street again. The light changed, and the white “safe to walk” symbol flashed on the square display. They stepped off the curb and crossed.
The screech of tires from the other side of the intersection made Rylee cringe. She hated that sound.
“Hey! Watch out!” A female voice called from behind Rylee. “Lady!”
The roar of an engine was right behind her. Rylee turned and was face to face with an oncoming big black car. A car that wasn’t slowing. Except everything around her seemed to be in slow motion.
Yelling people.
Ayla screamed something.
Rylee stared for a moment at the man in the car. He was unfamiliar, bearded, and wearing dark sunglasses and a white shirt.
He was so close.
Rylee shoved Ayla toward the sidewalk before the breath-stealing pain of impact shot through her like a lightning strike. Then more pain. Crunching glass. The engine of the car roared in her ears. She bounced and twisted around the passenger side and then down to the asphalt.
The whistle of wheels peeling out rang through her head. The car wasn’t stopping.
People were rushing to their side.
A few moments later Rylee couldn’t see anything but strange people. And she couldn’t hear anything. Then she couldn’t really see either. Something wet and warm dripped down in her eye, blinding her.
“Ayla?” She looked for her friend through the red haze.
A large hand touched her shoulder, and she winced.
“Sorry. Your friend is okay. I think she may have broken her wrist, but otherwise she looks good.” The voice was male. Unfamiliar. The words were garbled together with all the other sounds, but he was close enough she could understand him.
“I need to call … my dad.” She’d almost thought to call Jeff, but Jeff wasn’t a part of her life anymore. He would never be someone she would call ever again.
“Rylee! Rylee!” Ayla’s voice carried through the noise.
There were sirens in the distance now. She could hear the strange male voice still talking next to her, but she couldn’t distinguish what he was saying.
Her vision, what she could make out, was blurry or doubled. She tried to move, and it felt like her body was drunk. And the light hurt her eyes.
Everything hurt. Her arms. Her legs. Her ribs.
Damn. Her ribs and her hips hurt a lot.
The sirens were really close now. People were shouting even louder, and Rylee closed her eyes tight and wished she could plug her ears. All the noise hurt like butcher knives stabbing her brain. Everything throbbed like her pulse had been put on steroids and couldn’t fit inside her body anymore. Like her veins would explode.
There were hands on her body again.
Strangers’ hands.
