AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Besides, I have good news. Coach thinks I should be back up to the first line again within the next couple months if I keep playing well. After holiday break, I’ll come back just as strong as before and prove myself to the St. Paul Royals.
I sit at the edge of my bed, scrolling through socials, finding nothing of particular interest as I wait to hear my Jeep pull up in the driveway. The snow has gotten pretty intense, and I don’t think I’ll be comfortable letting her drive it again until it dies down. I don’t even have much confidence driving in snow like this. Although, I’m glad she took my car instead of her beater that’s collecting snow like an eyesore to the neighborhood.
I wonder if she had fun today, or if she’ll be in a good mood. I bet she will be. I bet she’ll be cold. We could light the fireplace and hang out downstairs after the parents go to bed. God, how boring do I sound? That’s, of course, if she doesn’t tell me she wants nothing to do with me when she gets back.
After thirty minutes of scrolling, I decide to call her to see if she is almost here, but I get her voicemail. I try again and again, ten minutes after each other and check the driveway to see if she snuck in without me knowing. I don’t see any fresh tire tracks on the driveway though, so I slump back and text her again.Where are you?
I feel guilty but I decide to check her location. When she passed out during the second movie, I decided to have her location sent to me indefinitely by sneaking onto her phone. Maybe it’s from my fear of her leaving again, or maybe it’s because I really am a possessive freak. Either way, I can swear that I haven’t checked it… until now.
She is sitting on the backroad about fifteen or twenty minutes out from the house. Her location isn’t moving with her, which is weird. It should move as she moves, but maybe she’s in a dead spot.
There’s no answer when I call again. I’m starting to get worried, but I don’t want to be irrational, either. She said she knows how to drive in the snow and my Jeep is a motherfucking beast.
The feeling of impending doom fills my chest as I throw a jacket on, rushing down the stairs as fast as I can, grabbing the keys to Steve’s truck as I do. If she is stuck out there, she could freeze or be injured…or… or she could be dead.
I grind my teeth as I pull out of the driveway, whipping the truck onto the empty road and driving faster than I should across the ice. Maybe I’m still being dramatic. Maybe traffic is slow in a dead zone. Could there be traffic out there?
I take the road that connects to the one her location is at and blow through the stop signs, searching everywhere with the high beams on the lifted truck for any signs of a driving car or accident. When I reach the area she is supposed to be, but I don’t see anything. I stop the car right at her spot and get out, pulling over on the side of the road. I can hardly see anything with the wind whipping up the powdery snow. It stings against my face, so I pull my hood over my head to block it.
“Taylor!” I yell into the abyss, starting to feel as if maybe my gut was wrong and her phone died.
“Taylor!” I shout one more time, keeping my eyes down on the road.
I get to the opposite side when I spot tire tracks just fading away, leading down the ditch.
Shit.About 20 meters ahead, the Jeep is upside down in the ditch with the engine still running. My heart is in my throat as I trudge through the snow, falling as I make my way towards Taylor. I should have brought my phone to call 911. I should have told someone where I was going—
I find the driver’s door, pulling as hard as I can to open it. It screeches open and falls off. Taylor is hanging upside down, blood trickling from her head. My hands are shaking violently as I desperately claw around her to check for a pulse.
“Taylor, baby. Taylor!” I yell, reaching for her seat belt and unclicking it. She collapses, and I catch her before her head hits the roof. With sheer willpower, I pull her onto my shoulder and hike up the hill, falling as I do but making sure her delicate body never once touches the ground. It feels like hours by the time I reach the truck, where I throw her onto the backseat.
“Baby.” I stroke her cheek; it’s freezing and she’s barely gaining her consciousness back. Her beautiful brown eyes flutter, fighting for light. There’s no time to get an ambulance out here. I’ll have to drive her to the hospital myself. After strapping her in, I drive back down the winding road, calling the local hospital as I do to warn them we’re coming.
“Elijah—” she whimpers, and it breaks my fucking heart.
“I’ll get you there, sweetheart. I’ll get you there,” I promise.
I pull into the ER, barely putting the car in park as I run to the counter and tell them we’re here. Within seconds, people are running to the car. I cover my mouth, feeling desperate and frantic as they rush her onto a stretcher and down the hospital hallway. I gather myself and follow them, answering any questions they ask about the situation.
“She was upside down in the snow. I don’t know for how long. A little less than an hour?” I tell them. Her blood-soaked hair flops over the white dressing of the stretcher and I want to wipe it all away. I want to take all her pain away.
“Her temperature is 95.5. We need to get her warmed up,” one of them yells. Another one puts his hand out and tells me to stay back as they take her into an operating room.
“Please, I can’t leave her—”
“Go to the waiting room, sir. We’ll call for you when we can.” I dig my hands into my hair, and lean against the wall, sinking as I do. Why the fuck did I let her drive in the snow? Why didn’t I go looking for her sooner? How long was she out there? I need Xanax, my heart—it won’t stop beating, pounding, pounding in my chest. Over and over. I can’t breathe.
I stand up and walk to the waiting room, clenching my chest as I do. It takes everything I have in me not to fucking destroy everything in sight. I pace in the lobby before getting the brilliant idea to call her dad. What is wrong with me?
Steve answers immediately.
“Elijah?” he asks, his voice already frantic. He must know that if I’m calling him then something must seriously be wrong.
“It’s Taylor,” I say, wanting to scream. “She crashed the Jeep. She’s at the hospital with me right now.”
“I’ll be right there. The local one?” he asks. “What…what happened? Are you serious?”
“I have your truck, Steve. I’m sorry. I found her and took her in. The roads are horrible. I don’t know if you can take the sedan.”
