The Clinch

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

The sound of blood pounding through my temples is all I hear for approximately a fraction of a second, before reality interrupts and I'm met with the droning sound of the car horn being leant on. My eyes are weak, but the rasping sounds of breath behind me makes me struggle to open them.

Just as my eyes start to crack open, piercing pain registers in my right thigh, and I hiss in pain as I try to shift that leg only to have a sudden streak of agony skirting up my right side and straight to my shoulder. I sob at the prickle of blood that trickles out of the leg wound, and once the fog clears from my eyes, there attention automatically goes to my injury.

Blood oozes from a deep gash running the length of my right thigh and I raise numb fingers to sweep away the large chunk of glass embedded near my knee.

Oh shit. The car. We rolled... I remember something slamming into the drivers side of the car and out of nowhere the car flipping several times before hitting another solid surface. And after that I blacked out.

Jerking my head to the left, I search for Gabriel with my blurry vision. "Gabriel wake up!" I shove at him with my left arm - which seems to still be fine - and gasp in horror to find that the car is lying on the drivers side and Gabriel is lifeless lying against the smashes window surrounded by a sea of broken glass and cracked dashboard.

The steering wheel is cracked and sticky with blood, and I let out a whimper to see Gabriel's forehead losing blood fast. Reaching blindly for my seat belt, I hit the clip and catch myself on the broken pieces of the headrest and dashboard before I can fall onto him. "Gabriel. Please, Hercules, get up!"

I shift accidentally to put my weight on my right leg, and let out a growl of pain as blistering hot sensation prickles up from my wound.

Gritting my teeth, I push the pain down and reach to unbuckle Gabriel from his seat whilst frantically shaking his shoulder. "For fucks-sake Gabriel, wake up. I need you to wake up please!"

Sudden crying from the backseat captures my attention, and I melt inside at the sounds of my babies cries. I look wildly around the headrest and my heart breaks to find that my son is still tucked up safe and sound in his car seat - which is now resting at an angle - looking just a little rattled by the collision.

I clamber over the seats, dragging my bum leg with me, as I reach for my crying baby. "Oh Coby, mummy's got you, it's okay." I untangle his carrier seat from the complex seat-belt system and sweep him to me in a mess of tears.

A couple of tiny cuts dot his face but apart from that he seems relatively fine. Letting out a sigh of relief, I drag him into the front of the car with me and kneel besides Gabriel. "I'm going to get you out of here, baby, just wait a second."

I'm not stupid. Everybody knows that you should get out of a car crash as soon as possible, especially one as serious as this, in case the gas has started leaking and a fire starts.

Whipping off my denim jacket, I wad it up and use it as a cloth to knock all of the remaining glass from the front windshield before pushing Coby in his carrier seat through it and setting him on the asphalt.

The sound of approaching footsteps garner my attention, and I look up to see a man in his middle ages running towards the wreck with a look of shock. "Oh my gosh, ma'am" he calls out to me as he comes skidding to a stop in front of the windshield "are you alright?"

He takes Coby's carrier and pulls him away from the wreck.

"I-I- yes, just my leg. But it's my husband, he's not moving!" I stutter, making sure that he's got Coby safe in his arms before turning back to Gabriel and trying to shift him.

"No!" The man suddenly yells and hands Coby over to another motorist drawn in by the accident "Don't move him, he might be suffering spinal damage, if you move him it could kill him!" He dictates before getting onto his knees and sidling up to the window.

Looking at him in confusion, I shake in the agony of being unable to help Gabriel. "What do you mean don't move him? You want me to just leave him like this? He's injured!"

He shakes his head at me and puts out a calming hand "The ambulance crew and fire-brigade are on their way, they'll take the best care of him. Get out of the car sweetie in case something happens."

I shake my head vehemently. "I'm not leaving him. I'll just wait for them to get here, but I'm not leaving my husband. How's my baby?"

The man looks over his shoulder at a woman tenderly bouncing Coby back and forth in her arms and trying to calm him. "My sister's looking after him. It looks like you and your husband took the brunt of the accident."

I wipe blood and sweat from the corner of my eyes as I crawl down next to Gabriel and continue to try and wake him. "Gabriel get up now, Hercules. Coby's crying, you hate it when Coby cries, it makes you sad. C'mon Gabriel, wake up for Coby." But still he remains despondent, just lying there dripping blood from his head wound with his beautiful face set in an ethereal expression and marred with gore from the collision.

No. I'm not losing Gabriel. I need him so much, I love him more than I can ever express. If either of us should die, it's me. I started that fucking argument in the car, and I shouldn't have. I'm stupid. I'm a shit mother. He's such an amazing dad. He's good at everything. He deserves to live. He can't die thinking that I hated him, that he wasn't my all and everything. I don't want him to die with his lasts moments being that of our dumb argument. His last moments should be of us together and smiling and surrounded by our grandchildren as we lie there and die together like in The Notebook.

He has so much more to give the world.

Not minutes later, the medics and fire crew arrive and I'm pulled out of the wreck despite my protests to stay with Gabriel. One of the female medic's brushes my matted hair away from my face and tries to calm me down. "It's okay, we'll get your husband out Mrs Lancaster as fast as we can, I'll have another medic check your leg in the meantime."

Shaking my head at her, I go to the woman holding Coby and take my weeping child from her arms. "Thank you, but I can take him from here. It's okay mama's boy, you're all safe now."

And I'm relieved to find that his whimpers and cries receded some, and he nuzzles his sleepy face into the crook of my neck. I raise a hand to his head and cup him to me, rocking him against me whilst humming his favourite melody. "I've got you. Daddy's going to be alright."

This seems to calm him some, and just as I take a step towards the wreck to watch how they're progressing with Gabriel, a hand at my arm makes me whip around to stare at the paramedic in question.

The woman's face is ashen as she grips my shoulders and holds me firm. "Miss, you're hemorrhaging."

And lo and behold as I look down beyond Coby for my leg, I'm shocked to find a pool of blood gathering around my groin. The warm trickle is nothing compared to the pain from my leg, but this pain is one much more imperative than the injury to my thigh. "No, no, no, the baby." I whimper, my lower lip shaking as I look down at the blood in fright before blacking out for the last time that night.

(A/N) Song Suggestion: Deadmau5- Raise Your Weapon