Brown Eyed Boy

Thawing Out (Carlos and Emmett POV)

Carlos POV

            I always tried to never think of Cassie getting hurt, but even when I did the worst I would think of was her being heartbroken over some guy. I never wanted to see her physically hurt and thought that I would always be around to keep that from happening, at least for now. But when I heard that car turn the corner and then saw it speeding down the street towards Cassie, sitting frozen on the ground...it made me freeze. I wish that it hadn't, that time would have frozen instead so that I could run over and pull Cassie out of the way. I wanted more than anything to do just that, but my terror had me completely immobilized and I hated it. I couldn't move which meant I was going to let her down in the biggest way and it was going to cost her life. The thought of having to bury my baby sister began to thaw me out in time to hear Jessie yell Cassie's name before running into the street for her.

            Everything that happened after that was so fast that I wasn't even sure it had happened until it was over. I barely registered Jessie making it to the street, pulling Cassie up and pushing her forward before the car filled my vision and all I heard was screeching tires and a horrible thud as it stopped. I stared at the car in frozen terror and then the next thing I know, I'm running out into the street. I stopped at the sidewalk, relieved to see Cassie safely across the street from me. But then my mind slowly registered the horror filled look on her face as she stared out at the street and I realized Jessie wasn't with her.

            Because Jessie was lying motionless in the street in front of the car.

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Emmett POV

            I saw Jessie lying on the ground before Carlos did, but I still stood there in shock. I was sure that she and Cassie were going to make it out of the car's path safely, but Jessie had barely pushed Cassie out of the way before the car hit her. I just stared at her in the street, unable to move until Carlos ran out there and dropped down next to her. Seeing him move to her side made it all real and suddenly I was running over to her too.

            Fear was plastered tightly over Carlos' face as he looked down at her and I could only imagine what my own face looked like. Jessie lay still on the ground in front of us, eyes closed. The only sign that she was alive being the slight rise and fall of her chest. Carlos was still staring at her, but he didn't seem to register it.

            “Carlos, she's still breathing,” I said, trying to get through to him. He continued to stare down at her, not acknowledging what I said or even that I was there. “Hey, did you hear me?” I pushed on his shoulder and he blinked before looking up at me blankly.

            “What?” he asked. His voice sounded rough, broken and hopeless, like he was certain she wasn't going to make it through this. And I knew for sure that he hadn't heard me before.

            “Jessie's still breathing,” I said again. “Look.” He looked down at her again and I could literally see something spark in his eyes.

            “Call 911,” he said, not looking away from her again. As I did, I looked over the rest of her and saw that there were some scrapes on her face and her arm was bent in a weird way, but I couldn't tell if anything else was wrong.

            “911, what's your emergency?” the operator answered.

            “There's been an accident outside of the Morrison house,” I said quickly. “My friend's been hit by a car and we need an ambulance right away.”

            “One second please,” she said and then I heard clicking of a computer keyboard.

            “Listen lady, we don't have time for you to sit there and check your Facebook,” I said angrily. “We need an ambulance now!”

            “I was checking our systems,” she said politely. “We received a call a couple of minutes ago from the driver. An ambulance has already been dispatched to your location and should be there shortly.”

            “The driver called?” I repeated in confusion. Carlos stiffened and slowly moved his eyes from Jessie to me, before dragging them to the car behind us.

            “Yes,” the operator replied. “From what I understand, the driver is still at the scene?” I turned to look behind me at the car and anger spiked through me as my eyes fell on the driver.

            “Yes,” I answered flatly.

            “Good,” she said. “The police would like to speak with everyone on what happened when they get there.”

            “Okay,” I responded. “Thank you.” Without waiting for another response, I ended the call, got up from the ground and approached the driver's side door.

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Carlos POV

            I felt cold and dead inside when I saw Jessie laying on the ground, unmoving. Then Emmett pointed out that she was still breathing and hope seemed to slowly spread through me. If we could get an ambulance here and get her to a hospital then she would be fine, I just knew it. After telling Emmett to call 911 I had mostly tuned him out, lost in my own thoughts.

            I'd come too close to losing Jessie and I didn't like it at all. I couldn't help but think that it was my fault. If I hadn't frozen, I could have gotten Cassie out of the way and Jessie wouldn't have gotten hurt. If I hadn't gotten mad at her for Cassie going off on her own, then I could have helped Cassie get her ball and no one would have been in the street when the car showed up. And the biggest if of all was if I had paid more attention to Cassie, I would've known she was by herself and seen her trying to go after her ball alone; I could have avoided the whole situation. Guilt began to seep through me as I looked down at Jessie, willing her to open her eyes and tell me she was okay, and I suddenly heard Emmett's phone conversation.

            “The driver called?” he asked, sounding confused and I suddenly went still at the words. This whole time I had been blaming myself but not once thought of the driver. I looked from Jessie to Emmett and finally to the car behind him; eyes falling on the driver. Inside, I must have expected it because when I saw Jared sitting inside the car, I felt no surprise at all. Part of me wanted to get up from where I was and hurt him. But a bigger part of me didn't want to leave Jessie's side until I knew she was going to be okay, and it was that part that kept me from walking over and shoving his face against the car.

            That same feeling didn't seem to work for Emmett because the moment he got off the phone, he walked over to the car and said “Get out.”

            Nothing happened for a few seconds and then Jared climbed out of his car, looking just as stunned and scared as the rest of us. His eyes stayed on Jessie the entire time and I could tell he wanted her to open her eyes too. “You were drinking,” I said without thinking.

            “When isn't he drinking?” Emmett said angrily. He pushed Jared back against the car so that he would look at him. “It's the reason you're so freaked out. The cops are going to get here, question you and then arrest you for drunk driving. And then when Jessie's better, she's going to want nothing to do with you.” Just as Emmett finished speaking, sirens sounded close by.

            “Carlos?” Cassie's small voice surprised me as I turned to her. “I-is Jessie going t-to be okay?”

            “I don't know,” I answered quietly. Cassie sat on the ground next to me, shivering from shock and I pulled her close to me as the ambulance approached. “I don't know.”