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“No!” He lashed out and gripped my arm.
“Will, don’t be fucking stupid! You had a—”
“Panic attack,” he said, his face gradually returning to its normal color. “I have PTSD. It happens.”
“It happens? It happens?”
Will winced at the shriek in my voice.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I shoved him so hard that he fell back on his elbows, looking at me with a mixture of fear and guilt. “Why didn’t you tell me? We could have died!”
He sat upright and buried his face in his hands. “I know.”
People were getting out of their cars and walking toward us with looks of concern on their faces. “You all right?”
I grimaced. “Will, you need to go to the hospital.”
“No. There’s nothing you can do for panic attacks. It’ll be a waste of time.”
“But—”
“Let’s just go!” He stood, his back facingthe wreck.
“If you think I will let you drive us, you’re out of your mind.”
Will looked at my determined face and gave me a small nod. I approached the left side of the car out of habit and swore.
“You sure you’re all right, love?”
“We’re fine!” I said in a high-pitched voice.
Yes, everything’s fine. I’m about to drive stick shift for the first time in a decade. Everything’s swell!
I sat in the driver’s seat with Will chewing his thumb next to me, looking self-conscious. Everything was on the wrong side.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
“You’ll get the hang of it. Just relax.”
“You relax!” I snapped.
I started the car and stalled it. People were honking at us from behind. I turned the key again and floored the gas, burning the clutch but finally moving forward. I relaxed as I shifted into second gear and drove down the highway, following the GPS.
“Okay,” I began. “Want to tell me what the hell that was about?”
I eyed him, but he sat there clam-like. A vision of my hands wrapped around his throat filled my mind.
“I was involved in a car accident years ago and that’s all you need to know.”
A light flickered in my head. “So when you see car wrecks, you freak out?”
Pain was etched all over his face as blatant as a Greek mask. “They can trigger episodes, yes.”
“What happened?”
He shook his dark head, his wide eyes looking everywhere but me. “Natalie, please.”
Whatever it was, it was bad. That only added fuel to the curiosity burning inside me. Though, the guilt in his voice didn’t make it too hard to guess what happened.
