River Rose | ✓

9

Family
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Anagapesis (n.) no longer feeling any affection for someone you once loved.

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River A. Rose

My head feels like it's pounding, I feel all the blood rushing to it. I'm upside down, I look towards my dad. Oh no.

"NIK WAKE UP!" I think I say but the ringing in my ears prevents me from listening. It all hits me like a wave or sorrow and grief. Everything I've kept inside, all the pain.

Every single feeling I've locked up deep down in my soul to protect my heart and cave into the numbness comes back. The adrenaline is wearing off and I now feel every pain in my body.

The wounds in my back, the broken ribs, the stabs, my hand, the bruises...I start breathing hysterically but no tears come, I feel and intense pain on my leg. Something burns inside of it and I scream as I move it and feel something tear inside.

"NIK PLEASE WAKE UP!" I yell, still upside down trying to get him to open his eyes. I scan his body and see no signs of serious injury, just a small gash above his temple, blood running down from it.

I grunt in pain and try to take my seatbelt off but I can't. All my strength gone, my dad stirs and grunts squeezing his eyes tightly. I'm so focused on him that I don't hear the steps coming closer on the path.

I gasp as I see a pair of feet next to me and I start breathing heavily but they're gone as soon as they came.

I hear the steps retreating and engine and then the unmistakable sound of tires screeching and speeding down the road. I release the breath I was holding and turn towards a now waking Nikolai.

We're both covered in glass, there's drops of blood everywhere but I don't know whose it is. I stretch my arm until I can unbuckle Nikolai's seatbelt, he falls to the roof of the car with a grunt.

He lays there for a few seconds but then his eyes open and he looks towards me, eyes filled with fear as he takes in my appearance.

"Stay still Rosey everything will be okay" he says as he sits in front of me and tries to get the seatbelt off but it's stuck. I brace myself on his shoulder for support. He takes a knife from his pocket and cuts it off.

I fall on him whimpering in pain. He gets out of the now smoking car by the shattered window on my side and helps me out. I look around and my heart drops in realization. We fell into a ditch.

Not too deep so I can still see the street above us but enough to have killed us. I stay seated on the grass as Nik looks around for his phone to call emergencies. He finds it and makes a quick call before kneeling in front of me.

I'm breathing so harshly I'm surprised my lungs haven't burst. We both look down at my leg and I gasp in horror, a big shard of glass is sticking out of it. That's why it burned so bad and I felt a tear on the muscle when I moved.

"It's okay. It's okay, I know it looks bad but it's a clean cut River, stay with me and keep breathing. Help is coming" he says as he grabs my cheeks and attempts to calm me down.

He then rips a peace of his shirt and starts doing a tourniquet. I whimper in pain at the sole touch on the side of the cut. I cry out when he tightens it.

"I know I'm sorry, I'm sorry baby. It will be over soon" he says and lean my head on his chest. I want to cry so bad...a loud boom comes from behind us, the car bursts in fire. If we stay near it we'll burn with it when it explodes.

Nik picks me up bridal style and somehow manages to climb the somewhat small dirt wall. He places me down on the grass right beside the road as we hear sirens coming closer.