Learning To Fly With Broken Wings

Chapter Eight : Trusting A Stranger

Jacinda's POV

Before Joel found me, I had fallen under a giant pine, which I hit one of it's thick branches hard enough that I may have broken my injured wing.

I felt the dead needles scratch my bare skin.

I touched my right wing muscle and my hand was covered in blood when I looked at my right hand.

I managed to crawl to the trunk to sit against it, back to the present now.

Joel looked into my eyes and he looked into mine.

He saw I was injured and in a lot of pain.

He started towards me slowly, I tried to move away, but I was only rewarded with more pain.

"Hey don't hurt yourself more than you already have" said Joel softly like he was talking to an injured animal.

I nodded, but didn't talk, then Joel eyed my blood covered wing.

"You need to get some help, will you allow me to take you to my mom. She is a vet and may know what to do" said Joel.

"What happens if she can't?" I asked.

Joel looked surprised by either my voice or my response.

"She will, even though she may not know exactly" said Joel.

I didn't say anything to Joel, but focused on not passing out from the pain.

"Did you get shot?" asked Joel.

"Yes" I said.

"Then we need to get you to my mom" said Joel.

"No" I said.

"I am not taking no for an answer" said Joel.

I was about to respond, but then the pain came back even stronger than before.

I closed my eyes and breathed heavily but in a fast way.

Then my world started to get blurry, Joel's words were quiet and then my world faded into black.

I woke up to music playing and the purr of an engine.

I opened my eyes slowly and saw I was in a car, I have seen them before high in the sky while they were tiny colorful ants below, but I have never rode in one before.

Then I began to panic and tried to get up, I knew I made a mistake when I quickly jerked up.

Pain shot through my whole body and then I quickly laid back down on the leather seats.

I managed to murmured out an ow before I laid back down.

Joel must have heard it because he looked behind quickly before looking back towards the road.

"Thank lord you woke up, I thought you had gone into shock or something" said Joel.

"It takes more than a bullet to bring me into shock" I said.

"Mental toughness I like it" said Joel.

I let that comment sink in before asking a question.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We were are in the great state of Colorado" said Joel.

"Wait, we aren't in the Rocky Mountains anymore?" I asked.

"No" said Joel.

"We need to go back" I said.

Joel didn't say anything, "Please bring back" I pleaded.

"I am sorry, but you need help with that injury of yours" said Joel.

I didn't say anything because I knew I would lose and I couldn't escape since I couldn't move much, I was trapped.

Then a song came on softly which I recognized.

"Joel could you turn up the music?" I asked.

Joel turned it up and didn't realize I knew his name.

I listened to one of my favorite songs, I'm Born To Run By American Authors.

After the song ended Joel must have realized I knew his name and turned down the music. "How do you know my name?" asked Joel.

"I was the one you took your camera lens, which had your name on it and I was the one that said help me I'm stuck that night" I said.

"Wait, so you still have my lens?" asked joel.

"Yes" I said slightly annoyed that he only cared about his lens right now.

"Why did you take my lens?" asked Joel.

"You were close to my home and I couldn't risk you taking a picture of a flying avian" I said then sucked in a breath of air since the pain had come back.

After a couple minutes of silence and me fighting off pain I asked him a question.

"Why did you have the camera pointed at the sky?" I asked.

I wasn't waiting for an avian, but for night to come to take a special type of picture called astrophotograph" said Joel.

What is that?" I asked now feeling lightheaded.

"It is when the camera tracks the stars through the whole night and you get an amazing picture by morning" said Joel.

I found that a bit interesting, but I felt even more lightheaded and then my world started to fade again and the last thing I saw and heard was joel looking at me and saying "hang in there, everything will be okay", but how could he be so sure.