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"Oh, my God!They're shooting at us," Isabella said, doing her best to stay on the road.But the next shot hit the back tire, and she battled to hold on to the wheel as the tire blew out and the car skidded across the road.
He braced his hand against the dash as she tried to turn away from the skid, but there was no stopping the momentum of the car, and they flew off the side of the road, tumbling down a bush and rock-covered hill until they were turning over in body-shaking somersaults.The last thing he heard was Isabella's scream.
ChapterTwenty-One
Nick woke up to his ears ringing and a heavy feeling on his chest.He felt pain in his back, in his shoulders, and in his legs, as he squinted, then blinked his eyes open, trying to remember what had happened.When he saw the crushed car next to him, it all came back.He rolled on to his side, knocking a heavy branch off his chest and saw the open door hanging off the car and the seatbelt that had broken when he'd been thrown from the vehicle.
He was so dazed it took him a second to realize that Isabella was still in the car.Her head was resting on the steering wheel and there was glass in her hair.She wasn't moving.And that thought drove the cobwebs out of his head.
He scrambled to his feet, stumbling through a wave of dizziness as he climbed into the car.
"Isabella," he said, fear running through him at the blood running down her face and her very pale skin color.He put two fingers on her neck and was ecstatic to feel a faint pulse.But she was barely breathing, and she was crammed against the steering wheel.
He reached for the seatbelt clasp and struggled to release it.It took a few moments to finally get it unhooked.When it snapped free, she seemed to have a little more room, but she still wasn't waking up.He reached under the front seat to push the seat back.That took almost more energy than he had, but he needed to give her more space to breathe.
Eventually, the seat moved back an inch or two and the movement made Isabella take a deeper breath.
"Isabella," he said again, brushing the blood off her face so he could see that it was coming from a cut on her forehead.The gash didn't look too deep.She'd probably been cut from the windshield glass.
Guilt and rage ran through him.He never should have let her drive.Never should have let her stay in Italy.Never should have let any of this happen.This was his fault.She had to wake up.She had to be all right.He couldn't live with any other result.
"Isabella," he said again, pressing his mouth to hers, and then saying, "Please wake up."
He was thrilled to see her eyelids fluttering.His heart turned over when she gazed back at him with her big, beautiful brown eyes.
"Nick?"she asked, confusion in her gaze.
"It's me."
"What happened?"
"We crashed."
She blinked a few times, and then mumbled, "Did you kiss me?You said you weren't going to kiss me unless I asked you to."
He smiled."Sorry.I was trying to wake you up, like Sleeping Beauty."
She grimaced as she tried to sit up straighter.
"Don't move," he said quickly."Where does it hurt?Tell me where the pain is before you move again."
"My head."
"What about your neck?Your back?Your legs?Can you feel your legs?Can you wiggle your toes?"
"Yes, but my knee hurts a little."
He thought it was a good sign that she was only having pain in her knee and her head."What about your ribs?Can you breathe?"
She took a breath and then said, "My chest feels sore, but it's not that bad.You have blood on your face, too."
"I'm okay.But I think we might have the same bad headache."
"Like knives stabbing my temple."
"That sounds about right."
"I want to get out of the car," she said."It smells funny."
