Elysium

Chapter 2

Cold, it was too cold. There was something wet trailing down her right cheek, but Meerab was far too gone to check what it was. Her eyes were glued shut, and every limb in her body was trapped and twisted in ways she could not fathom. There was not enough air, and her ribs squeezed painfully as she struggled to breathe. There was a weight on her chest, and as the adrenalin slowly started to kick in, she realized that she was wrapped tightly in a vice-like grip, too strong and shielding her entire body.

Meerab struggled to open her eyes and to have at least one coherent sense as her ears kept on ringing. What the hell had happened? She struggled to make sense of what was happening at the moment, her head protesting loudly at each thought and memory.

The Village, Malik's men, bullets, Panchayat, her recklessness, his anger, the drive, the blinding headlights...

Meerab jolted awake at the last memory of his terrified face as he reached for her across the central console.

It was dark, and it took her a moment to realize that her face was pressed firmly into a hard chest, a last act of protection.

She could see flashlights in her peripheral vision, and as the ringing ceased, she could hear the loud sirens that the rescue team had reached, but there was a stillness in the air, one that was not disturbed even when the rescue workers were breaking glass to get them out of the overturned car. And as she realized what that stillness was, a sob broke out of her.

Even with her face pushed right up against his chest, she could not hear his heartbeat.

"Murtasim, Oh God no..., Murtasim.."

She flailed in his grip, a jarring pain racing through her body as her right hand refused to comply with her, but she did not care; she twisted her left hand out of his grip and pushed her head back to take a look at Murtasim.

She had been right; that stubborn man had thrown himself over her body like a damn human shield, taking full impact from the hit. She desperately reached out to his pulse point, her sobs and cries bordering on hysteria. Nothing, there was nothing.

A horrifying scream tore out of her, ricocheting off the insides of their totaled car. The startled rescue workers reached out to her, trying to keep her sane and coherent.

"We have got you, ma'am; we are breaking the windshield; we are getting you out. Please don't panic."

"No, it's Murtasim, m-my husband, there is no p-pulse" Her voice broke, fading into another fit of cries.

She faintly heard the team calling out for equipment, updating status, or whatever they had to do in the situation, but Meerab was focused on the man before her.

Her left hand was now cradling his head, having gently pulled it into the crook of her neck, whispering prayers into his neck. Then the windshield was broken in, and Murtasim was pulled out. The fireman stepped in through the wreck, cutting her out of the jammed seatbelt.

It was absolute chaos outside; she looked back and cringed at the sight of their SUV. For a second, she wondered how she walked out of it alive. The car was overturned, with glass, blood, and airbags littering the wreck. Blood, her blood, his blood

Meerab looked around, spotting the emergency workers strapping Murtasim onto a stretcher.

"He.. is he, is there.."

"He still has a faint pulse, but we should hurry up." The man raised his head and looked at her. "Are you dizzy? Double vision or nausea?" He asked as they pulled down the ramp and loaded Murtasim onto the ambulance.

It took a moment for Meerab to register that she was also bleeding and that the question was directed at her.

"I'm fine"