Miles To Go

I Promise You

Chapter Two – I Promise You

His entire body felt as if it were mere moments from falling apart.Slowly he forced his eyes to open, painful a struggle it might've been. There was light though it was quickly fading, the sky a beautiful hue of pinks and reds from the setting sun. Now he knew it was almost nightfall. His next goal was to get himself to move. Despite knowing the hurt that it could cause he forced himself to sit up. He brushed off grass and dirt from his arms. Focusing on the insignificant details felt more helpful then. Nick's mind was a jumble of mixed images as he struggled to reorient himself with his surroundings.Fuck, what happened? His head currently resembled a pounding tribal drum more than anything else. He reached up to rub his temple and was surprised to find it sticky and wet. His pulled his hand down to stare at it, at the redness spread along his fingers. Blood.

The shock caused him to take in a sharp breath where more agony followed. His hands moved down to his sides and he jerked them away after the softest of touches caused practically blinding misery. Nick pulled up his torn, now bloody, t-shirt and stared down at the black and blue patterns traveling down along his chest. I bet at least some of my fucking ribs are broken.

Immediately he reached for his iPhone and blanched when he couldn't find it. That was when Nick fully realized what had happened. The images started to make sense to him. He'd been on the phone with Kevin, who was on his way to Seattle as well for the night's show. Kevin had wanted to make up for missing the LA show the night before. Jordan had been sulking over the fact Nick had reminded him he was too busy in 2015 to commit to a run of Nick and Knight in Japan. The rain had even been letting up.

Then the driver couldn't control the bus. He'd held on as long as he could, struggling to dodge the flying objects as the bus slid down the shoulder and rolled down into the heavily wooded area. Jordan wasn't so lucky. He'd seen the other singer get tossed around like he was one of those NKOTB Barbie dolls from back in the eighties.

I'm lucky to be alive. He remembered how finally, just before the bus met its final stop against a tree Nick had lost his grip on the bed railing and flew out one of the broken windows. His eyes shifted down towards his arms that showed the various cuts and bruises between the fallen glass and the impact when he finally hit the ground. The ground, while not as soft as it could've been, must've been wet and mossy enough to cushion his fall. He reached up to the back of his head, the source of the persistent throbbing despite what he assumed to be a somewhat shallow wound along his forehead. A large lump confirmed his growing suspicions and was tender to the touch. I might have a concussion.

That meant no sleep for awhile, if he could manage it.

He got up cautiously, afraid of hurting himself more. His arm started to feel sore when he'd used it to push himself up and he wondered if maybe he'd sprained something. Nick knew it couldn't be broken if only because for the most part he'd been able to move it with no problems so far. As sore as he was though, he was reminded yet again of how lucky he was. I could've broken my neck. Or fractured my fucking spine. But I'm alive. I can walk.

Now that he was done assessing his own injuries for the moment, his eyes tracked the area around him. An owl hooted solemnly in the distance. There were trees everywhere. He looked to the left up him and could see the steep hill the bus must've rolled down to get here. The road was up there but Nick wasn't so sure he could climb up it in his condition. He looked around again for the bus itself and it took a minute due to the fading sun but then he saw it. It was a long tube of mangled and twisted black metal, smoke rising slowly from the front. The glass was shattered in the front window and Nick shuddered at the dark splatters coating it as well.