Page 5 of Accidentally Mine
Straight toward me.
Kicking up asphalt and gravel and dust.
I stood on the brakes, bracing myself on the steering wheel.The fear morphed into sweat breaking out on my skin as my mind churned at once through a thousand ways to escape.
Escape.Escape.Escape.
But there was none.Nowhere to go.
Then, jarring impact.
My body went one way while my head went the other.The steering wheel dug into my gut and the seatbelt sliced into my chest as there was a popping sound—the airbag inflating.I inhaled the smell of burning rubber.
Pain.My skull hitting something hard, caving like an egg cracked on the side of a bowl.Broken glass rained over me as the car moved through the darkness, and I wondered where I’d wind up.
Darkness.
I lost consciousness before I wound up anywhere.For a second.A minute.An hour.I had no idea.
The next few things happened in blinks.
Someone shouting.
Too-bright light.
My skin cold and hot at the same time, pain bursting all over my body.
Wet warmth on my neck, seeping down my shirt.Blood.
I tried to find the catch on my seatbelt so I could free myself but realized my body was wedged between the door and the steering column.The position was so unnatural, and I felt like I’d been skewered clean through.
Enormous pressure—in my head, my chest, everywhere—like a balloon being squeezed to popping.
I felt around for the door handle and found it under my ass.Lifting it, I realized the door was jammed, probably too bent to open.I smelled gasoline.Saw, vaguely horrified, that I was sitting dead center of the three lanes of the Pike that I knew so well, staring at the approaching headlights of oncoming traffic cutting through the haze.
Movement.More shouting, frantic screams, closer now.
Panic welled inside me.Move.Get away, something inside me screamed.But my body wouldn’t obey.I wasn’t sure I had all my limbs.I tried to suck in a breath but my lungs ached, and I couldn’t draw the air.
“It’s okay.I’ll help you.”
The voice sounded like an angel.Calm.Completely at ease.Was I dead?I blinked.A face appeared in front of me, blurry except for two turquoise eyes.Those eyes, thick-lashed, almond-shaped, clear as the sky on a summer day.Eyes that speared me straight to the soul.
She pressed something to my head and said in a firm voice, “Hold on to me.”Then we worked together and miracle of all miracles, the door popped open and I tumbled out.
I coughed wetly, tasting the metallic tang of blood.My lungs made an emphysemic wheezing sound.I didn’t think I could move at all, but she managed to get me upright.I wasn’t sure how.She helped me up on my feet, and we staggered a short distance before falling to the gravel on the side of the road.The white glow of headlights and dim blue light of her phone flashed.
Sirens.More shouting.More screams.
Fatigue pulled me down.I rested my head on the hard ground, and my eyes fell closed.
Then that same angelic voice said, “I’m sorry, but I have to go.Be well.I’ll be thinking of you.”
“Brent!”
I was ripped out of the memory and focused on two concerned eyes.But not the turquoise ones I’d expected.No, these were familiar black eyes that mirrored my own, ones I’d known since I was a child.I found myself in the climate-controlled darkness of the Cadillac, with Claudia clutching my arm for dear life.
I looked around for the fire.“What?”
