Chapter 56: Collision with the Unexpected

AVA

I slowly started regaining consciousness. It began with a muted ringing in my ears that got clearer and clearer until it was so loud it gave me a splitting headache.

Then my vision returned. It started out so blurry I could barely make out any shapes, but eventually, my surroundings came into view.

An airbag. Broken glass everywhere. A tree, very close to me. Too close. The hood of our car was wrapped around it.

Suddenly, I remembered what had happened. We were driving and talking, and suddenly, something jumped onto the— CYRUS.

I whipped my head to my left, blurring my vision again by doing so. ~Shit. Probably a concussion.~

I waited for my vision to clear as I reached over and felt his chest beside me. It was rising and falling with ragged breaths. ~Oh, thank God.~

I started to be able to make out his features. His eyebrow was split, and blood was dripping down his face. He was slumped forward slightly, leaning into the inflated airbag.

I tried to get to him, but something was pinning me in place. ~His arm? No, my seatbelt.~ I unbuckled myself and moved over to him carefully, so as not to hurt either of us any further.

“Cy,” I tried saying, but no sound came out. I cleared my throat five times in a row before I could manage even the slightest squeak. “Cyrus!” I yelled.

He groaned softly in response.

“Cyrus, come back to me, honey.”

He lifted his head slowly and looked around. He seemed to be going through the same process I had just moments before, slowly taking in the surroundings and then putting two and two together.

“Ava…” He grabbed my arm. “Are you okay, baby?”

“Yeah. How about you?”

He looked around. “Yeah… I’m so sorry, baby… I think there was a deer.”

As if on cue, a brown shape on the road to our right started jerking around. I let out a scream as it started kicking its legs and jumping up and down.

One of our headlights had died in the crash, so the deer jerking around in the shadows looked extra eerie.

It jumped around disorderedly a few times, before seemingly regaining control of its body and darting off into the forest.

“Okay,” I said after my soul had returned to my body a little. “We need an ambulance. Possibly firefighters. To cut us out of the vehicle if the doors won’t open. Wait, do they open?”

I tried my door, and after kicking it a few times, it flew open. I stumbled over to Cyrus’s side of the car and tried opening his door, to no avail.

Suddenly, the sharp scent of gasoline hit me. I stood petrified for a moment, overcome by visions of the car blowing up with Cyrus inside.

“We need to get away from here!” I yanked on the door handle with all my might. It didn’t budge. “Can you move to my side?”

I ran back toward the passenger side. I climbed into my seat and leaned over Cyrus to unbuckle him and pull on his arm.

“My leg is pinned,” he said. “I can’t get out.”

My eyes widened. “Firefighters,” I mumbled, realizing I still hadn’t called for help.

I pulled out my phone and dialed 911 and put it on speaker.

I put the phone on the dashboard as I bent over Cyrus, putting my head in his lap and snaking my arm down his legs to try and find out what was pinning him down.

There was a sharp piece of metal wedged into his leg.

“Shit!” I said. “I don’t know how to fix this!”

Cyrus talked to the dispatcher as I tried to come up with a solution. I reached down once more, trying to gauge the size of the object, and I felt a warm liquid dripping onto my arm.

“Fuck, you’re bleeding.”

He smirked joylessly. “I figured. First responders are on their way.”

“Good. I don’t want to move you, whatever is in your leg is likely keeping you from bleeding out.”

He nodded.

I tried straightening up, but as I pulled my arm away, I felt a sharp pain pierce my flesh. I cried out in pain and froze.

“What?” Cyrus grabbed the shoulder of my good arm. “What happened?”

I carefully patted around the painful spot on my upper arm with my free hand. A ragged piece of metal went into one side of my arm and out the other.

“My arm got caught,” I said through clenched teeth. I winced with each movement.

“Don’t move,” he said.

He cupped the side of my face in his hand. I leaned into him, keeping my arm as still as I could.

“I smelled gas before!” I said, suddenly remembering. “What if the car blows up?”

He shook his head. “It won’t. Cars don’t really explode like that. It’s a myth.”

That put me at ease slightly. “How about fire, though? Gasoline is flammable, right?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Technically, it could catch fire, I guess. But did you see any flames?”

I shook my head no.

“Smoke?”

No again.

“Good.” He pushed my head back onto his thigh. “So, let’s assume the car won’t spontaneously catch on fire.”

And so we just sat there. Waiting. Bleeding.