Down the Winding Road

Elora

Elora's eyes flew open, all previous feelings of tiredness vanishing. She gripped the steering wheel tight as she tried in vain to pull the vehicle to the side.

She felt a scream rip out of her throat, though whether it was one of panic, fear or pain was honestly a bit of a toss-up.

Elora felt tears build up in her eyes, blurring her vision anymore before she felt a burst of pain in her shoulder, the cracked glass panes digging through her. Once again a scream escaped her and she felt herself get knocked back against the metal bars that raised the cushioned headrest she had never liked painfully.

All around her were flashing lights and screeching tires. The radio had been broken and the aggressive hip hop she had been listening to seemed even more broken up sounding than before. She was flooded with the scent of rain and she dazedly wondered if the papers she knew she had in the back were still dry.

Elora untensed her hands on the steering wheel as her somewhat new car was pushed back by the much larger one that had hit hers. She could feel trickling liquid down her neck and mull over whether it would be blood or rain. People normally bled during car crashes, right? Or was that just in movies? No, they have to, right?

It hit her then that she had been in a hit-and-run crash. For reasons unknown to even her, Elora felt laughter build up in her throat before it turned into loud gut-wrenching sobbing. Her lithe body shook as she wept, mind finally catching up with what was happening. Why did it have to be her? There were so many others that the driver could have hit but it had to be her. She, who had just gotten over her trauma from her first crash nearly a decade ago. She, who had been confident in getting in the car for the first time in years, only to have that hope crash once more.

She could feel herself going into shock, her senses dulling, pain dissipating for the time being.

She wanted to move, get out of the car and inspect the damage. She wanted to get up and inspect the injuries she no doubt had received before the pain set in again. She wanted to do so much. But she couldn't. She simply sat there.

She knew she survived. She was certain of it. But then why did she feel so dead regardless?

Elora wasn't sure who had called the ambulance cause it sure as hell hadn't been her. She felt cold. Why was she cold? Shouldn't she be hot from pain or something? White hot pain? Something like that, right? So why did she feel all cold and dizzy instead? She didn't hear the questions that were aimed at her.

Men and women alike swam around her, their shiny pins contrasting their dark clothes. Elora could feel her body being moved, and without realising it, a yelp pulled itself out of her throat.

It was then her brain decided to reboot, the pain suddenly registering. Her neck felt like how it had that one time when she was younger and her older brother had cracked her neck. Only much, much more painful. Her head pounded behind her eyes.

Every inch of her hurt. The crying that had dissipated earlier came back at full force and she attempted to curl in on herself.

Before she could though, a gasp escaped her the second she tried to touch her stomach. She felt light-headed at the sight of a red liquid on her fingertips.

Elora groaned as she tried to grasp onto what was happening. Why did it hurt so much?

She knew she had known only a minute ago but any coherent thought she had had completely disappeared once the pain kicked in again.

Elora's eyes shot open when she felt a hand reaching out toward her. Thrashing as much as she could with a locked seatbelt still trapping her, she desperately tried to avoid the hand.

Everything seemed to blend together as she heard it. A siren. The honking of a horn. The screeching of the tyres.

She could feel a tightness building up in her chest. Was it coming back? To finish off the job?

Elora's mind went completely blank and her conscience slipped away.

The next few hours were a blur. They transported Elora into the ambulance and to the hospital. The entire time she was unconscious, though whether that had been from shock, tiredness or blood loss, Lonnie, the girl who had called the ambulance, reported that as a non-medic, she hadn't a clue.

According to the girl, Elora was lucky that she was alive, the crash has been particularly bad. As it was, Elora was left with an extremely bad eye, a nasty head injury, a burn on her neck from the seatbelt and another lifetime or so of trauma.

But that was fine. She got over it once so what meant she couldn't get over it again?

846 words

btw some of you have already read some of this but I added a bit more on to it