𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄, damiano david

━━𝟒𝟐.𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫

My sister's shattering scream drilled into my body, it reverberated in my head and I felt dizzy.
The car sped towards me, it felt like it was in slow motion as the tyres squealed so loudly it hurt my ears. I closed my eyes in panic and despair.

When I opened them again, I was still standing in the same place as before, I hadn't moved an inch, I hadn't whirled through the air and fallen to the ground, no blood was running down my body. I blinked down at my unharmed body, looked at my hands with which I had pointed in the direction of the car as if I could stop it.

"Cora!" my sister yelled and I looked up, still everything seemed strange, I blinked and my moist burning eyes brought the world into more blurred confusion.

Relief fell from me as I saw Sophia get out of the car. It had stopped at the side of the road, there were dark tyre marks on the opposite lane where Damiano had managed to avoid me. That was completely crazy, he might as well have driven into the house.

"Cora!" Sophia yelled again and I felt my legs moving towards her, even though I didn't really know what I was doing. I felt numb, as if I had cotton wool all over my body and in my ears, my hearing was impaired.

Sophia ran towards me, she grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me, "Come on, we have to get off the road onto the hard shoulder, get in the car, Cora.", it sounded like a tearful plea, I must have looked horrible when she spoke to me like that.

"Where do you think Damiano will be?" said Sophia, tilting her head. I groaned, "He didn't go after those assholes, did he?", I asked and held my hand to my forehead, it felt pleasantly cool.

"Yes, of course. Ethan's with him," Sophia said then and I nodded, "All right. Can I-", I interrupted myself because my voice was failing, "I need to sit down for a minute," I then said weakly and dropped down on the chilled tarmac of the hard shoulder, Sophia leaned down to me, "Cora please, we need to get in the car.", she pleaded again but I only heard her muffled. The shock was deep in my bones, "Shit, I don't know what to do!", Sophia cursed and I saw her reach for her phone.

"It's OK, I'm fine," I said slowly and quietly, Sophia simply ignored me.
I closed my eyes to make the dizziness go away, but it didn't work properly, my head was spinning like a merry-go-round.

I was about to lose consciousness from exhaustion when I heard Sophia's shrill voice, "There they are, look Cora, there's Damiano!" she pointed to two silhouettes moving through the shadows towards us.

I couldn't make them out properly, panic spreading through me as I watched them walk quickly and purposefully towards us.

"Sophia-" I said, but my stomach turned as one of the people came up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders.

I wanted to struggle and scream, but I couldn't. Instead, I stared at the face and recognised the familiar brown eyes looking at me with concern.

"Coraline, what's wrong with you?" asked Damiano softly, stroking my face with his hands, "Are you hurt?" he asked.

I shook my head and he looked me up and down, squatting on the floor like a heap of misery.
Damiano picked me up from the floor, in his arms I felt dizzier than before but I endured it because I felt safe.

"She's in shock, it's best to take her to hospital," Damiano said and I wanted to protest, but maybe he was right. I still couldn't feel my legs, the panic was too deep in my bones.
In the back seat of the car, my head was lying on Sophia's lap, she was gently stroking my hair and my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier until they finally closed completely.

When I woke up, I squinted against bright light coming through the windows of the small bedroom. My body tingled all over as I stretched, but it no longer felt so numb, I could move normally.