BattleEnd

Pain

August 23rd, 2010

A flash of red sweeps across my field of vision and splatters the windshield. Our vehicle swerves, and I barely have time to think before I see our car go flying through the metal barricade that lines the border between America and Mexico. An ear piercing screech of tires followed by a loud crashing sound resounds in my ears. I feel something sharp tear through my stomach. I scream, the pain consuming me and throwing my body into violent convulsions before I finally curl into a ball, shivering. The car is stilled, and I grasp the object imbedded in my flesh, while mustering the courage to look down at it. The source of my pain is an umbrella my mom had taken with us because of the forecast earlier that morning. The entire tip had lodged itself inside of me, right in between my ribs. I whimper, and attempt to pull it out gently. As the end finally slides out of me, I cry out, and feel a warm, sticky fluid pour over my hands. Seeing that it is blood, I wretch, trying to wipe some of it off my fingers. I slump back in my car seat, my breathing ragged. "What just happened?" I think to myself hazily. I moan, trying to unscramble the jumble of thoughts whirling around my head. Suddenly, it hits me, and my breath catches in my throat.

My family.

I jolt back up in my seat, flinching as more blood pours out of me. I don't care. I look to my right, and see my sister. One of the poles from the border fence is sticking straight through her heart. An inhuman sound escapes my lips, and I hear a voice from far away screaming her name. "Eliza! ELIZA!" The screams become louder and more desperate with each word, and it takes me a while to realize the voice is my own. I scramble over to her, trying to pull the pole out of her body, but to no avail. My hands come away from the base of the pole red and covered with her insides. Leaning over to the other side of the car, I vomit. A helpless sob comes from my mouth, and I scream to my brother to help me. He doesn't answer. Yet again, my stomach drops, and I look over my seat to peer into the back of the car. My brother, Ryder, laid sideways, arms hanging over the side of the seat. A red flower blooms on his temple, and a tiny stream of blood trickles from the corner of his lips. Wailing, I throw my body over the seat and land in a heap next to him. Digging through the various miscellaneous items in the trunk, I search for something, anything that could help me save him. I come back empty handed. His once lively green eyes are covered with a lifeless, glassy film as he stares into nothingness. It is then that I remember my parents, sitting in the front. I don't even bother climbing back over the seats. Taking my elbow, I smash it through one of the back windows and flail myself over the side, cutting my hands and legs on the broken glass in the process. My body slams into the ground with a shocking and painful jolt, and I force myself back onto my feet. Limping and still holding my side, I make my way to the front seat. I open the driver's side door hastily, and the body of my father comes crashing to the desert floor. I fall with him, and turn his body over so that his face is towards my own. A single bullet hole is visible, directly between his eyes. Brain matter and blood trails down his face. I fall back on my hands and scream again, only this time, I don't stop. I scream and cry until my voice is raspy and my breathing is labored. I can't even begin to imagine how long I have been there before I hear a weak moan coming from the passenger's seat.

Mom.

I clamber into the front of the car from over the driver's seat, where I see my mother slouched over. Her hands lay uselessly at her sides, and her face is contorted. Her features twist in agony, and her eyes lower to her chest. A wound just as large as the one on my dad exists toward the upper right portion of her chest.

"Mom. Mom, please. Can you hear me? Mom!" I say frantically as I see her eyes beginning to roll back into her head. She opens her mouth, and I close my own, leaning in to hear her better.

"Honey. Sapphire, dear. You have... you have to... go. Run. They're coming. Go. Please." Her words come out in a panic, and her voice is shaking terribly. "Sapphire. Go. Run."

My mind is whirling, and it feels as if the walls of the car are closing around me. I couldn't process what she was saying. I didn't understand. "Mom. No, mom. I'm staying here. I'm not leaving you. Mom! Please, please stay with me. Don't go. Mom!" her head starts to loll to the side, and her breathing becomes slower and shallower. I tear at my shirt, getting a piece to try and stop the bleeding. I press it to her chest. It is soaked in a matter of seconds. I groan, and begin searching for something else to use. Coming across nothing, I spot my brother's phone in the center console, which I immediately pick up and begin dialing. My hands shake so much that the phone falls to the bottom of the car seat. A string of curses leave my lips, and reach down to pick it back up. My mom opens her mouth again, and I pause before dialing, trying to hear what she says.

"I love you, Sapphire." She looks as if she is about to say more, but her throat gargles, and blood bubbles from her mouth."I'm sorry."

The true meaning of her words barrels into me, and I begin yelling at her, trying to will her into staying alive. "Come on mom. Don't go. You can't leave me! Mom! Wake up! Please, wake up!" My words are lost on her, and I watch as her chest stills. "No. No no no. NO!" I scream, frantically punching buttons on my brother's phone. It feels like an eternity before a lazy voice answers on the other side of the phone.

"9-1-1. What is your emergency?"

"It's my family," my voice coming out low and gravelly. "We've been in a car accident along the border. I think they're all dea-" my voice catches on the last word, and a wave of dizziness washes over me. "Oh God. Oh God, no." My hands fall to my sides, and I drop the cell phone on the floor of the car. In the back of my mind, I hear the police officer still calling me through the phone.

"Miss. Miss! Please stay on the line and remain calm. Help is on the way. We will find-"

But it doesn't matter. I am already out of the car and running. I run for as long as I can, my mother's words echoing in my ears.

Sapphire. Go. Run.

My aching body struggles to support my weight, and I only manage to sprint for a few minutes before I fall to my knees, the world still spinning around me in a flurry. I may not have made it far, but it's enough. The car is fully out of view. That is when I realize the throbbing in my side. Looking down, I see that my entire shirt is soaked through with my own blood. Before I could fully process what was happening, my vision goes black, and the ground rushes up to meet me.