Page 26 of Waggs

Willow saw the lights of a car and thought nothing of it, but Aiden clearly saw something because he turned the wheel sharply as a vehicle hit them side-on, catching the tail of their vehicle and pushing them into a spin.

Willow screamed his name as Aiden wrestled the car, but it was too late, and before she could do more than a grab a hold of Aiden’s leg, they were careening over the bridge into the inky black darkness and then the splash sounded as the car hit the water. Her head smashed against the dashboard, and she felt warm blood drip down her face as the world spun around her.

Willow began to panic as she felt the frigid cold-water seeping into the car as it sunk lower into the terrifying darkness. Aiden grabbed her hand, forcing her to focus on him and not the paralysing fear that crawled up her spine.

“Can you move?”

“Yes, I just banged my head.”

“Willow, I need you to listen to me. This car is going to sink, and when it does, I need you to hold on to my hand, and do not let go. We’re going to swim out of the window, but we can’t until we’re fully submerged, all right?”

Willow nodded, the clear focus in his voice keeping the abject terror at bay. As the water reached her chest, she felt Aiden fiddling with their seatbelts and focused on him. The coarse fabric of the belt gave, and soon they were both free of the life-saving constraints.

Her teeth began to chatter, and she didn’t know if it was fear, cold, or shock but suspected it was fear. The water was shifting, and her breath was coming fast as panic made it hard to breathe.

“Stay with me, Wills. We’re going to be fine, just stay calm. As soon as the water goes over our heads, I’ll get you out, I promise.”

Willow nodded, her heart beating so hard against her chest it felt like she might pass out. Tipping her head up, she took a breath as the freezing water touched her chin. Just before the water covered her head, she took another deep breath and held tight to Aiden. She thought of all the things she hadn’t done or said. Her son, who could grow up without either of his parents, and pain seized her. Lungs burning as she held her breath, she felt Aiden tug her hand and then she was moving.

His arms pulled her through the darkness and the fear. Making her feel less alone less afraid, and he’d done it before. Aiden always came through for her. He’d always save her, and she’d done nothing to deserve that loyalty except lie to him and hide the truth.

Panic danced on her chest as she felt the need to take a breath, and then she was pulled from the water, and blessed air filled her lungs. Coughing and gasping for breath, she reached out blindly and found herself pulled onto dry land. Turning, she frantically looked for Aiden and saw him being helped from the dark river by Reid.

He rushed to her and fell to his knees, hauling her against him and holding on so tight, his hand cupping her head to his chest. “You okay, Wills?”

Willow nodded as a shiver racked her body, part shock and part cold. Reid placed a blanket around her shoulders as Aiden led her up the bank to where Liam and Alex were waiting, the latter having turned up later in the day.

“Here, sit in the car and warm up.” Callie guided her and Aiden to the back seat.

Alex ran over with a bag and shoved it at Aiden. “Dry clothes, get them on.”

Aiden tried to pull away, but she held on, not wanting to let him go, never wanting to let him go.

Aiden pried her fingers off him and cupped her neck, bringing his forehead close and touching her own. “I’m not going anywhere, Wills, but we need to get dry. Then I can take a look at that cut on your head.”

Willow lifted a hand to touch her head and found it sticky with new blood and winced in pain. Aiden quickly stepped out of the car, and without a second thought, shed his wet clothes and put on dry ones from the bag Alex had given him.

He came back with a different bag and stood in front of her. “Does anything hurt, Wills?”

She shook her head and realised her head did, but it wasn’t surprising seeing as she’d cracked it on the dash. Aiden ran his fingers gently up the back of her neck, feeling the notches in her spine and asking if it hurt before asking her to follow his finger. Happy that she really was okay and not about to expire on the spot, he removed the blanket.

Willow could hear sirens in the distance and wondered what would happen now. She looked up at Aiden as he pulled a warm, dry hoodie over her head. “What happened, Aiden?”

His face was a mask of anger, jaw ticking as he fought for control. “Someone smashed into us side-on, ploughing us straight toward the bridge and then drove off.”

“Jesus!”

“Liam went after them. He picked up the driver and is taking him into our custody.”

Her eyes went wide. “You think this has something to do with me?” Aiden cupped her upper arms and rubbed to get her warm as she shivered, but this time it wasn’t from the cold. “AJ could have been in that car.” Her eyes stung as tears and anger took over. “They could have killed my son because some asshole wants to shut me up.”

He pulled her into his arms, and she looked past him to the dark river. That could have been her baby’s grave and her own. If Aiden hadn’t been there, she’d have freaked out and drowned. She clung tighter, knowing this man was the one standing between her and danger.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you or AJ, Wills. I’ll always be there.”

Willow didn’t respond because she knew he meant every word, but when she told him of her lies, of the things she’d kept from him, would he feel the same? She hoped so, but a part of her thought she didn’t deserve it.

As the police and an ambulance drew up, she saw a pretty woman in plain clothes talking to Alex as she looked over at them. The woman made her way toward them, and Aiden smiled.