Maintaining Dominance

Chapter 22

My eyes shoot open to see the open blue sky and for a moment my ears are ringing, but then the sounds all come rushing back. The cars on the highway are all stopped and mine is still upside down. I am surprised to see the damage done to it. The front end of the car is nearly unrecognizable and I wonder how it is that I am standing here. My thoughts are interrupted by a scream, one of pure terror.

"Hayden!" I have never heard such an agonizing sound come out of Jessie's mouth. I try to reach out for, but she runs right past me, to the car. "Hayden, wake up! Wake up!" It's as I watch her get on her hands and knees to crawl into the destroyed car that I see myself. I am strapped into the front seat, hanging upside down, and there is so much blood.

"No..." It comes out of my mouth, but nobody else hears it and Nathan quickly rushes over, pulling Jessie out of the pile of glass she is lying in. She doesn't leave my side as she is punching and kicking Nathan.

"No, let me go, bastard, let me go. Hayden!" He doesn't let her go and I can see the panic in his eyes as well, but if she has to watch me die, she won't come back from it. I can hear the sirens from far away, somebody must have called nine-one-one.

"Hayden?' My eyes widen at the sound of this voice. I must be dreaming there is no way this is real. I turn and there he stands, just like the day he left me. I take a step forward and I feel the emotions running through me. He smiles and takes a step closer to me. "Honey, I'm home."

I feel the tears in my eyes and run to him, throwing my arms around him. My moment of bliss is short-lived as I quickly realize what his presence means. I step away and look up at him, holding my arms to my chest. "Am I dead?" I ask him and he reaches his hand out, cupping my cheek.

"Almost, but not quite yet." His voice sounds so dark and I gasp as more tears fall down my face. "You have grown so much in my absence. I've stuck close to you all of this time, Hayden. It can all end now if you want it to, no more pain." I don't want to die. I can't die there is too much left for me to do.

The ambulance squeals to a stop and police cars are on their heels. The accident site is now blocked off from the rest of the road and they are shutting down the whole section of the highway. I move closer as the cover Lydia with a sheet and they work on pulling me from the car. "We have a live one!" The medical crew immediately comes to my aid and they quickly extract me from the out of shape vehicle.

I am horrified when I am finally loaded onto the gurney and I can see the extent of my injuries. My arm was broken for sure and what I had thought was a piece of glass stuck into my abdomen is actually a piece of metal.

"Oh my god, Oh my god! Trevor, I can't die!" I turn and tell him and he has a sad expression on his face. I am scared and he quickly wraps me in his arms. I watch Jessie crumble to the ground as she sees my injuries. The EMS team is speaking but I can't understand them.

"It isn't up to you right now. It is up to the men on that team. There were only a few minutes of pain in my death, if you try to go back now, you are you going to be in agonizing pain. I don't want to see that happen." His hold is as comforting as ever and yet, I know the difference this time. All of the time that we were together, this hold kept me grounded. I have found this hold in only one other person. Trevor pulls away from me and I look up at him again.

"I haven't told him how I feel yet." Trevor looks at me surprised and places his hand on my head with a gentle smile.

"I love you Hayden Grey and I know that you will always love me, but don't let this love fall apart because of me or the fear." The tears begin to fall once more and I look over as they are loading me into the ambulance. I can feel only a few things in my body right now, but my mind is too active.