A Piece of Me

30

Elizabeth's pov

The rain came down, starting as a sprinkle but became harder the more we drove, and it became clear when we hit the highway that no one was used to driving in the rain.

Cars were speeding, and trucks were no better. Neither were we, in my request to get away from the hospital.

I held myself, staring out the window. We sat in silence, only the windshield wipers making noise.

"How is she?" Colby asked quietly.

I shook my head, not bothering to answer. I couldn't find the words to describe what was happening with her.

My lack of responding only seemed to make Colby realize how bad I was shaken up, his foot laying more pressure on the gas.

"Colby, slow down we're gonna hydroplane," I warned, shuffling in my seat.

"We'll be fine. I know what I'm doing," He said, reaching over and patting my leg.

It only took that long for his eyes to be off the road for shit to hit the fan.

"HOLY SHIT" Colby shouted, hardly getting the words out before head on slamming into something.

I had no idea what it was, my guess was that it was another car.

It flung us to the side, and I had no idea what was happening. We were rolling, that was for sure.

I felt like we were going at lightning speed, my head slamming into the passenger door frame more than once.

My entire body was being pushed up against the passenger side, gravity occasionally pulling me against my locked seatbelt.

I screamed, reaching across the console for Colby's arm. I only had a hold on it for a second before we rolled again, slamming me back into the door.

The car slowed down, not rolling anymore. We were definitely upside down, I could tell because the blood was quickly flowing to my head.

The top of Colby's car was smashed in, so I couldn't take my seatbelt off. "HELP!" I screamed out, hoping someone would hear me over the traffic on the highway.

I looked over, seeing Colby's head leaned back against the seat. His face was bloody, and his closed eyes signaled that he was unconscious.

My head ached, a throbbing pain on the side of my head. It hurt, it felt like I was getting hit with a train.

Did I get hit by a train? I probably did.

"Colby?" I patted one of his arms, which were hanging loosely beside his head.

"Is someone in there?" A third person asked, from somewhere outside of the car.

"Yes! Yes help please call nine-one-one I'm stuck please," I babbled frantically, bending my legs to try and get them out of the seat, "My boyfriend's unconscious please help us,"

"There's only two of you?" He called, and I shouted back, "Yes! Yes! Please, just hurry the fuck up,"

"We're trying, ma'am," He shouted back, before some other person shouted words that shook me to my core.

"It's on fire!" Another man yelled from further away. I wish he was talking about something else, but the smell of smoke soon filled my nose, causing me to cough it out.

I bent my legs, trying to get them on the other side of the dashboard. It was no use, I'd have to be pulled out.

My right leg was useless, and if it wasn't for how high my adrenaline was I'd definitely be freaking out right now.

"GET HIM OUT," I sobbed out, coughing, "GET HIM OUT"

Colby was still dead to the world as I unbuckled my seatbelt, falling the inch straight onto the ceiling of the car.

I couldn't get out of the car, but I could get help Colby out.

He was a lot heavier than I was and I knew that, but I did my best to push his hands under his head for when I unbuckled his seatbelt, expecting his head to fall just like mine.

But he didn't move.

"HE'S STUCK" I shrieked, and I knew my words were limited because every breath I took burned from the smoke.

I coughed, using my shirt to cover my face.

Arms reached in through the shattered window, "Give me your arms!" The same man from before shouted.

"No! I can't leave him!" I shouted back, and the man reached in even further.

"Ma'am, the sooner we get you out the sooner we can get him out!" He said before breaking into a coughing fit, "Please, we don't have a lot of time. The car's gonna explode,"

I took one final glance at Colby, his unconscious, bloody face piercing a piece of my heart, "I'm sorry," I whispered before grabbing ahold of the man's hands.

"I GOT ONE" He shouted to God knows who as I was pulled out through the window, glass scraping my entire body and shredding my clothes before continuing to pull me across the grass.

I held my breath, waiting until he let me go before breathing again.

I could hear sirens, and I sat up to see him dashing back to the car with four other men.

"Oh shit!" Jake shouted, and I looked away from the sparking vehicle to see him running through the overgrown grass towards me, "Liz, what's going on!"

"We crashed and he's still in there," I cried out, "And they gotta get 'em out, it's gonna explode. Oh my god," I gasped, scrambling to my knees.

"COLBY!" I screamed, crawling to my feet before breaking off into a wild run for the car.

The men were struggling to pull him out, his side of the car more damaged than the passenger side.

I fell to my knees beside the car, leaning down next to the men and trying to reach for Colby.

It was no use, there were too many people trying to squeeze their way toward him.

I felt Jake's arms wrap around my waist, pulling me backwards. Between me fighting him and him winning, letting go of the car sent us both flying to the ground.

"Jake stop what are you doing?" I cried, punching his chest and trying to wiggle out of his arms.

"The fire department is here," Jake informed, holding my head to his chest, "Let them help him,"

I tried my best to push away from Jake, but he had a deathly tight hold on me.

He wouldn't let me see the car, forcing my head to face towards the highway, where I could see the ambulances and fire trucks speeding to a halt.

It was only seconds later that the car exploded, causing my screams to become more frantic while Jake gasped, "COLBY!" I cried out, the surprise making Jake's grip loosen.

I got up, looking over to see Colby's Toyota Corolla on fire, the whole underside a blaze. But the men weren't surrounding the car anymore.

Instead, they were about ten feet away, and I realized that the paramedics were rushing over that way with a stretcher.

I took off, shoving past the men to see Colby, his face black stained and bloody.

"Oh my god," I cried out, my body giving out as I fell to my knees. I reached for his hand, kissing the back of it like he had done to mine hardly twenty minutes ago.

I was hoping that he might be awake by now, maybe he'd squeeze my hand or shake me, telling me it was all a dream.

But as I watched the men back away while Colby was loaded into an ambulance, I realized this was far from a dream.

It was a nightmare from hell.