Aella

XXXVIII

Aella's POV

Open your eyes. Where's Penelope? Where is she? Open your goddamn eyes. 

My eyes listen to my brain, and I slowly look around. I'm upside down, still in the driver's seat of my car. Everything around me is shattered, and I smell smoke and gasoline. I turn my head the other way, and Penelope is also still strapped to her seat upside down, but she's unconscious. 

I assess myself for injuries before moving. I have a pounding headache. My neck is fine, and I feel no pain anywhere else. I push one hand against the ground above me, giving my seatbelt more slack, and with the other, I unbuckle my belt, freeing myself. I fall against the ground, and move myself out of the car. Broken glass rattles under me as I stand to my feet. When I stand on my left ankle, it's completely shattered, but there's no time for that right now. 

Penelope. 

Both mine and the other car are overturned on their roofs, both smoking. I forget about the excruciating pain running through my entire left leg and go to Penelope's side of the car. 

Getting back down on the ground, I assess Penelope. She's bleeding from multiple places on her face and body. Her arms hang passed her head. I stand back up and scrounge for my phone in my pocket. The screen is shattered, but it turns on. I call 112.

"How can I help you", the male voice asks me on the other side. 

At that moment, I don't know what to say. I just stand there and start to tear up. "Ma'am", he starts. "Are you hurt?"

"It doesn't matter", I start. "My partner. We were in a wreck. She isn't awake".

"Okay", I hear him typing on the other end. I'm starting to hyperventilate. "Where are you?"

I tell him the road we're on. "Rescue is on their way. Can you feel her pulse, Ma'am?"

I crumble to the ground to get to Penelope. I put my fingers up to her throat. "Fuck. Yes", I breathe out a huge sigh of relief. "

"Hello?" I hear quietly come from the other car. "Is anyone there?"

I start to hear the sirens coming from far away, the countryside is so quiet.

I stand back up and walk over to the other car. In the overturned SUV, an older man is trapped in his seatbelt the same way Penelope.

I hang up the phone. But, then I call my men from the house. I tell them to get over here as soon as they can, to clear and secure the scene. 

"What the hell is wrong with you", I sneer. "You could have killed her."

The sirens near, the rescue coming over one last hill before reaching us. They slow, stop, then rush out of the car. About the same time, my men come from the other way. The rescue people start to help the man in the car. 

"No", I yell. "Help her. She's not conscious."

One stays with the man, but the other two run over to my car, where Penelope is.

My right hand man, Matteo, rushes over to me. "Ma'am." He sounds overly concerned. "You're hurt too. Let them take care of you."

"Don't fucking tell me what I need." I snap at him. "I need Penelope to be okay first. I don't care about me."

Matteo says nothing after that. He just directs our other men to secure around us, to make sure this wasn't an attack. I simply stand there and watch them help Penelope. They grab a neck brace and a giant car jack, pushing the car up, securing her neck, then pulling her out, placing her on a stretcher. 

Her body looks lifeless. They make the movements for her. She's covered in blood and pieces of glass. Of the two that got her out, one comes over to me. A young girl, no older than Penelope, looks over me. "Ma'am. Let me help you please."

"But her", I stammer out. "She needs to be okay first."

"Your partner is going to be okay", she tells me. I stare blankly at her. "Let me get you help. What hurts?"

"Everything is secure." Matteo comes up to me. 

"My ankle is broken", I tell the lady. "And I have minor whiplash. But I don't care about me. Fix her."

"We're taking her straight away."

"I'll go with my men.", I tell the little girl. "Just help her."

The young rescue girl runs back over to the ambulance where Penelope is being put in, helping the other lady put the stretcher in. I watch as they hop into the back of the ambulance and shut the doors. When I can no longer see Penelope, I turn to Matteo. "Let's go."

The second ambulance shows up to take care of the dickhead that hit us, and Matteo and I get in his car, speeding off behind the ambulance that Penelope is in. 

I simply stare ahead, at the back of the ambulance. 

This is my fault. I was driving too recklessly. I hurt her. I hurt Penelope. What if she doesn't ever wake up? What if I killed the only person I've ever truly loved? I need her. She'll never forgive me for doing this to her. And her parents. I promised her parents that I would protect her with everything in me. Her father will shoot me himself if I let her die. How could I do this to her? She's so young. She has a whole life to live. But what if she dies? What would I do without her?

After what seems like hours, we arrive at the hospital. Before Matteo can even put his car in park, I all but jump out of his car. Forgetting about my ankle, I almost drop to the ground, but catch myself with the door. 

Doctors wait at the door for Penelope in the ambulance. They rush up to the ambulance as soon as the door is opened from inside. I myself rush over. The young girl announces Penelope's condition to the doctors as they run into the hospital bay doors. 

"Ma'am, stay back please. We need room to work." the head doctor yells at me. I stop in my tracks as they head into a private room, shutting the door. I can see through the small window in the door. Nurses come through with clothing scissors, and another closes the shade over the window as they start to cut away Penelope's dress. 

"Ma'am", a very small nurse grabs my arm gently. "Let's get you checked out while you're waiting for her."

"No", I almost yell. She must be used to outbursts, because all she does is blink. "I don't care about me until she is okay."

"Those doctors are doing everything they can to fix her. Let us help you in the mean time."

"No-"

"Aella", Matteo almost barks at me. "Let them do what they need to do."

I want to yell back at him, too, but I know he's the one thinking clearly here.