by Cassie Hayes
"I'm scared, Jack." She startled herself as the words whispered from her throat. She hadn't even realized until now how scared she was. He reached in with his other hand and held hers.
"You're going to be fine. Just a few scratches and bruises." He winked at her, and she was taken aback at how he could still have the same affect on her as he did all those years ago.
"What are you doing out here anyway? Emma told me you were moving back home, but I wasn't sure when. And, besides that—you do remember there's a main highway coming into town you could have used, right?"
She swallowed against the pain that was coursing through her body, and shut her eyes, listening to the sound of the sirens coming closer.
"I know, I just...you know. Wanted to come this way." She let her eyes slowly open and she could see him smiling at her. How could she tell him she came this way to drive past the tree that had been "their spot”—the place he'd taken her on picnics, and when he'd first told her he loved her when she was just sixteen.
He simply nodded. By now, the sirens were right there, and she could hear the noise of people stopping and getting out of fire trucks and other rescue vehicles.
"We're down here. Woman, aged 25, lone occupant, MVA. Possible concussion..." Everything started to spin around her as she heard him yelling up at the people coming down the bank. She would just rest her eyes and let Jack take care of everything...
Suddenly, a loud scream echoed around the scene and Erin's eyes flew back open as she heard Jack curse loudly again. "Get her back." He let go of her hand and pulled his hand away from the wound he’d been holding. She could see his feet move quickly away from her as new faces bent down to talk to her.
What was going on?
"Erin, is that you?"
Emma!
Her best friend. Jack's younger sister. Even though they hadn’t spent as much time together as they had when Erin lived here, Emma was still someone she spoke to regularly and loved with all her heart. And she knew Emma still felt the same way.
Somehow, both Jack and herself had forgotten Emma was a volunteer on the fire department in town, and would be showing up to help with the rescue.
The pain was finally too much, and as the blackness closed around her, she could hear Jack calmly trying to tell Emma she was okay.
Erin just prayed he was right.
The words to the song she’d played over a thousand times reached her ears, hard to hear over the sound of crunching metal. The world around her spun, seeming to throw everything into a slow motion scene right out of a movie. Faintly, she thought once again how true the words were as Lady Antebellum’s song, I Guess I Wanted You More, poured from her speakers. Her body jerked sideways, her head banging on the roll bar of the Jeep as she closed her eyes to the motion of the vehicle rolling into the ditch.
Branches broke beneath her, slapping her on the face as the glass broke and she continued to tumble farther down into the ditch.
As fast as it happened, everything stopped. The music still played, while all around her, outside her vehicle, was nothing but silence. Something warm trickled down her face, so she moved to bring her arm up and wipe it away from her eyes. As she did, she realized she couldn't move her body. The Jeep lay on its side, the soft top torn away, letting the breeze outside blow against her skin.
Her body was pushed up against her door, looking out along the ground. She tried to put her elbow down to pry her legs out and move out of the wreck.
Pain shot through her arm, and she fell back against the ground. How was she going to get out?
She could feel panic start to well up inside her. This road wasn't a well used road, so she didn't know how long she might be stuck here. Why didn't she just stick to the highway instead of taking back roads?
What if she was left out here, trapped in her mangled Jeep all night? It was only May, so the night would still be chilly. Not to mention, she didn't know how bad any of her injuries were. She tried to turn sideways, to see if she could find her purse that held her cell phone.
Everything started to spin again as the pain pulsed through her body.
A sob caught in her throat. She thought about her grandma, the only family she had in the world. The woman who'd raised her, and who she was supposed to be coming home to help while she recovered from her stroke.
Continuing to struggle, and trying to ignore the pain, she suddenly thought she could hear tires up on the road. She screamed as loud as she could, praying whoever it was would see the tracks and notice her upturned vehicle below in the ditch.
She cried with relief when she heard it stop, followed by the sound of a slamming door.
"I'm down here!" She'd fallen far into the brush near the ravine, but thankfully she hadn't landed in the water.
Suddenly, a wet nose poked in through the broken top of the Jeep, pressing up against her cheek. Her hand automatically came up to push it away, sending another jolt of pain through her body.
"Tank! Stop that, get back." A man's voice could be heard as he grunted to pull the large dog back who was now licking her face.
Strangely, the dog's presence seemed to have a calming effect on her, as though she somehow knew as long as this dog called Tank was here, she'd be all right.
"Are you all right in there?" She could see the man's boots, but still wasn't able to see his whole body, as he crouched down to look inside.
The air flew from her lungs when the man's face came into focus.
"Jack?" The calmness she felt when the dog had first arrived was replaced with sobbing that she couldn't seem to get under control.
Jackson Roberts, her high school sweetheart. Her ex-boyfriend who broke her heart.
They’d spoken a few times over the years whenever she was home, but it had never been the same between them. It had been awkward and difficult.
However, seeing him now was like finding that old comfy blanket you'd had all your life, and thought you'd never see again. She wanted to grab him and never let go.
"Erin?" He was just as shocked. "Are you all right?" This time, his words were strangled with worry as he stood up and tried to move pieces of the wreck out of the way. The dog must have sensed the new stress, and was back over licking the tears away before they could make their way down her cheek.
"I'm calling for help, just hold on." His voice reassured her somehow. Vaguely, she heard him calling and giving directions, and she was sure she heard him giving some other details she wasn't sure about.
Suddenly, he was down beside her again, his phone on the ground beside him as he reached in and moved his hands over her injuries. "Where does it hurt?"
"I'm not sure. Everywhere I think."
She heard him curse as he tried to move in closer. "Tank, get out of the way!"
She had to smile through her tears as she saw Jack wrestling with a large dog to get in closer, while he crouched down on the ground beside her. His eyebrows were furrowed as he tried to pull against the metal of the Jeep.
"Don't move. Until we know your injuries, I need you to just lay still and not move around too much. I’ll get you out of here."
Suddenly she remembered. Jack was working now as a paramedic in their hometown of Silver Springs. He’d know how to take care of her.
She let her head fall back onto the leather seat, just wanting to rest for a moment before the pain she knew would come when they tried to cut her out of here.
"Erin, stay with me. Keep your eyes open. Do you know if you hit your head?"
His fingers were feeling along the back of her head, and she cringed as he moved over the bump from where she'd made contact with the roll bar. "Ow, yes, it hurts there."
He pulled his hand away, and she tried not to panic when she noticed the blood on his fingers.
But, he smiled at her, and just let himself lie on the ground beside her. "You're going to be okay, beautiful. I promise."
She wondered if he even noticed he'd called her 'beautiful' like he always used to do when they were t
ogether. It had rolled off his tongue like he'd never stopped saying it. Whenever he'd said it, she'd always believed him.
He tore at his shirt, and reached in to press his hand against her jaw. “You have a bit of a cut here, so I’m going to need to stop the bleeding a bit, okay?” He pressed hard, and even though it hurt, she didn’t want him to pull his hand away.
The dog, who she could now see was a large black lab, laid down beside him and stuck its head in to lick her again. Erin almost had to smile at how the dog seemed completely unaware that there was anything out of the ordinary going on, and it was just laying down between two people on the ground chatting.
Apparently, this dog named Tank had no idea she was stuck inside a crumpled vehicle with injuries she knew nothing about, other than the blood that seemed to be coming from everywhere.
"Just keep talking to me, okay?" Jack’s voice was soothing. In the distance, she could make out the sound of sirens working their way toward them.
"I'm scared, Jack." She startled herself as the words whispered from her throat. She hadn't even realized until now how scared she was. He reached in with his other hand and held hers.
"You're going to be fine. Just a few scratches and bruises." He winked at her, and she was taken aback at how he could still have the same affect on her as he did all those years ago.
"What are you doing out here anyway? Emma told me you were moving back home, but I wasn't sure when. And, besides that—you do remember there's a main highway coming into town you could have used, right?"
She swallowed against the pain that was coursing through her body, and shut her eyes, listening to the sound of the sirens coming closer.
"I know, I just...you know. Wanted to come this way." She let her eyes slowly open and she could see him smiling at her. How could she tell him she came this way to drive past the tree that had been "their spot”—the place he'd taken her on picnics, and when he'd first told her he loved her when she was just sixteen.
He simply nodded. By now, the sirens were right there, and she could hear the noise of people stopping and getting out of fire trucks and other rescue vehicles.
"We're down here. Woman, aged 25, lone occupant, MVA. Possible concussion..." Everything started to spin around her as she heard him yelling up at the people coming down the bank. She would just rest her eyes and let Jack take care of everything...
Suddenly, a loud scream echoed around the scene and Erin's eyes flew back open as she heard Jack curse loudly again. "Get her back." He let go of her hand and pulled his hand away from the wound he’d been holding. She could see his feet move quickly away from her as new faces bent down to talk to her.
What was going on?
"Erin, is that you?"
Emma!
Her best friend. Jack's younger sister. Even though they hadn’t spent as much time together as they had when Erin lived here, Emma was still someone she spoke to regularly and loved with all her heart. And she knew Emma still felt the same way.
Somehow, both Jack and herself had forgotten Emma was a volunteer on the fire department in town, and would be showing up to help with the rescue.
The pain was finally too much, and as the blackness closed around her, she could hear Jack calmly trying to tell Emma she was okay.
Erin just prayed he was right.
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About the Author
Cassie Hayes grew up pretending she was Laura Ingalls (before that pesky Almonzo arrived on the scene) in the middle of Oregon farm country. She lives with her husband and cat on the Pacific Ocean, and loves to hear from her readers.
Connect with her at:
CassieHayesBooks
www.CassieHayes.com
[email protected]
© 2017 Cassie Hayes
All rights reserved.
www.CassieHayes.com
Cover design by EDH Graphics
http://edhgraphics.blogspot.com/
Edited by CM Wright
The characters and events portrayed in this book are a work of fiction or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
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