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I thought people smelled toast before they had strokes, or some shit.
I tried opening my eyes, but I couldn't. I tried rolling over, but it was all for nothing. It was like this massive disconnect with my soul and my body was taking place. Like that paralyzing sleep shit. I heard bats fluttering around me. Or a winged animal of some sort. Water dripped in the distance and continued rushing over my legs.
I started shivering from the cold, which only exacerbated the pain in my back.
Fuck.
I swallowed again, but the reflex was daunting. It made my nose hurt, of all things. I didn’t know what the fuck that was about, either. Wind kicked up around me, causing me to shiver and hurt in places I hadn’t realized. Like my nose again. My shoulder. My ankle.
Why the hell did I hurt in all these random places?
“Clint!”
I could have sworn I heard my name off in the distance, called in panic. I heard it again. And again. I heard it again before something popped, then the sound went away. I was probably imagining it. Dreaming it, because of the pain I was in. Holy shit, I’d never experienced pain like this before. The way my body felt was nothing compared to some of the beatings I’d taken from my father over the years. I drew in a deep breath, reeling from the pain in my nose and forcing myself to lick my lips.
The taste of blood was strong.
Fuck me, this hurts.
Even though I still couldn't open my eyes, I tried getting my bearings. I heard a fight going on in the distance. Scuffling of feet, and all that. I tried opening my eyes to figure out what was going on. Was someone in trouble? Did they need something?
I heard a whisper in the wind that sounded like my name, and I thought I might be losing it.
Pull yourself together. Where the fuck are you?
It was a good question. One I wasn’t sure how to answer. I mean, I was obviously on the edge of a water source. Rushing water. A brook? Or a river? I mean, the water came all the way up to my hips. My feet were actually floating in it. So a deep river. I focused on the sounds around me, hoping anything would trigger a flood of memories. Something. Anything. A flash of a picture in order to give me context to the hellhole I’d woken up in.
I let my mind do the seeing for me.
There’s wind rustling in leaves. Lots of trees. I’m in a forest, possibly. And it’s cold. So there’s no sun. A river, so there’s water. Which means the droplets of water are coming from… an overhang? A tree?
A bri
dge.
Images bombarded my mind as the word ‘bridge’ soared through my mind. The car. My bike, crunched against a metal railing. A bridge, tumbling out of view. The sky above my head as my hands reached out for it. All of them still images. All of them, bringing into focus moving memories and images.
Rae.
“Clinton Clarke! Are you down there?”
“I see him! Clint!”
“Clinton!”
Fucking hell, I hate being called by my full name.
Just as quickly as the pictures started, they stopped, taking with them the moving images as I tried piecing together my night. The fuck was my brain doing? Why was it struggling like this so badly? I tried opening my eyes again as a light quickly illuminated my face. I felt the quick warmth and saw the light behind my eyelids before it disappeared. I heard people screaming out my name. I heard footsteps along something above me.
The bridge. That’s the damn bridge.
That word started up another barrage of still images. A grocery store. My hand reaching out to push open the door. A girl, standing behind the register. With thick, beautiful dark hair and brooding brown eyes. I felt my heart leap in my chest. I felt my cold legs warming at the snippets of memories. I saw myself leaning against the counter, watching her smile and quirk an eyebrow at me. Feeling my eyes slowly inch down her body, taking in her toned curves.
Rae.
A pain ricocheted through my head and I groaned audibly. The first sound I’d forced my throat to make since I woke up. I tried drawing in a deep breath again, but the pain was too much. I stopped it midway, trying to open my jaw. Trying to part my lips. Trying anything to get more air into my lungs.
I couldn't open my jaw.
