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“Jackson,” Asher says, jogging over and stopping beside him. “How is she?”
“She, is right here and can hear and speak, would you believe.” Asher opens the passenger door, leaning down to look inside. His eyes scan over me, then over the rest of the inside. He doesn’t say a word until his eyes meet mine.
“Kennedy, I need you to stay still but tell me if you can feel any pain in your left leg?”
I have to think about it because my head is throbbing, but I can’t feel any pain. When my mind finally focuses solely on my leg, I realize I can’t feel anything at all. Panic creeps in. Everyone knows that no pain isn’t always a good sign.
“Hey, Kennedy, look at me. Kenzie, open your eyes,” Asher demands, and I hadn’t even felt my eyes close. Opening them, he leans over the passenger seat, grasping my hand and squeezing it. “Good. It’s not what you think. Stop panicking.”
I can no longer see Jackson or Everly, but I can hear them talking out of sight, easing my panic even further. I focus back on my leg but don’t try to move it. I do manage to wiggle my toes slightly, and involuntarily squeeze Asher’s hand, which is still holding mine.
“I can wiggle my toes. There’s no pain, just pressure.”
“That’s good. Okay, I need to let the EMT take a look at you, but I’ll be just outside.”
“No, don’t go,” I blurt, gripping his hand tighter. “Please,” I beg. He looks behind him to where his colleague, Reah, is waiting. There’s a silent exchange between them before he turns back to me.
“Where hurts the most?” he asks, eyes scanning me again as someone shines a flashlight inside the car.
“My head and ribs. My head hit the window.”
Asher relays details about my injuries to Reah, who is now crouched down outside the car with her bag open and is handing equipment to Asher.
As a fireman, Asher is a trained first responder too, and I know other than some bruises and no doubt a small concussion, I’m okay, despite the fact my leg is stuck. I know Asher and if he thought there was anything more serious, he’d have moved aside and let the EMT through no matter how much I begged.
After Reah is satisfied that I don’t have any serious injuries and I’m stable, I hear the whirring of machinery. It’s not a nice sound and I’m thrown back to six years ago and all the sounds outside Morning Kick as it burned to the ground with my dad and Nolan inside.
“Hey, don’t do that, Kenzie. This is not the same. Just focus on me, and they’ll have you out in no time. I promise.”
“Don’t go. Don’t you leave me, Asher,” I say just as metal meets metal and they begin cutting the roof from the car. I can’t keep the accusation from my tone, but if he notices, he doesn’t call me out.
ChapterEleven
“Don’t go. Don’t you leave me, Asher,” she pleads, and I hear the accusation. I don’t have a response to that because in her eyes that’s exactly what I did to her brother and dad. But it’s not quite how things went down.
“I’m not going anywhere, Kenz. Just stay still and it’ll be over before you know it.” I’m still holding her hand, but it doesn’t seem to be enough to calm the storm raging inside me. I don’t know what happened yet, but my gut tells me Kenzie didn’t lose control of her car by herself. I know she’s a good driver because Nolan and I taught her. I was with her the day she took her test. Things were starting to get complicated between us by that point. There was a tension there too, but I couldn’t not go without making Nolan more suspicious.
After placing the neck brace Reah gave me, I monitor Kenzie’s vitals as the jaws of life cutter begins. The back is cut through quickly, and I’m handed a blanket for Kennedy as she begins to shiver, shock now setting in.
As soon as the roof is free and lifted off, I climb inside and start lowering her seat to a lying position as much as I can.
“The roof is off, Kenzie. We’re almost there. Now, they’re going to start raising the front and releasing your leg, but I need you to tell me immediately if you feel any pain at any point, okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” she says quietly through chattering teeth. Reah has joined me inside the car through the back as the roof was removed and holds Kenzie’s head as a precaution.
I give a thumbs up to let them know we’re ready. The creak and crunch of grinding metal joins the symphony of sounds that accompanies every emergency situation. I drown them all out and focus completely on Kennedy, watching her face for any sign of pain.
“Ahhh…” Kenzie cries, and I instantly hold my hand up, halting any further movement.
“Talk to me, Kenzie. Are you in pain?”
“No, keep going. Get me the fuck out of here, Asher,” she demands, and I can see that it’s not pain or fear but relief driving her now. With another thumbs up, they start again, and five minutes later, her leg is free. Getting her onto a backboard isn’t easy, but we finally do it and then we lift her out.
Reah wheels her over to the ambulance and I break away to talk to Jackson and Everly.
“Oh my god, Asher, is she okay?”
“She’s good. Most likely a concussion and some cuts and bruises but nothing serious. Have you called her mom?”
