Chapter 118
I made a decision without fully thinking it through and plunged into the water. The cold was a shock so sharp it felt like knives against my skin and stole the air from my lungs, my muscles locked up instantly but I forced myself to move along the edge, water up to my thighs, then my waist.
If they looked down, let them think I fell and drowned probably p>
I bit down on a sob that tried to claw its way out of my chest.
Oh my gosh Aaron.
The thought of him still up there fighting, maybe outnumbered made guilt twist so hard I felt sick.
I moved until the bush thickened enough to cover me, then I climbed back up through branches that scratched and tore at my soaked clothes.
I crouched low, heart hammering, trying to listen past the rushing water, the voices above sounded angry and that sound alone made something inside me crack
I waited for a sound… a gunshot mayb? For Aaron shouting my name For anythin just anything.
Instead, after what felt like an eternity, I heard engines then doors slamming, tires peeling away.
Then absolute silence, I stayed there, shaking uncontrollably, long after the noise faded. My mind kept replaying that scuffle, had they taken him?, had they killed him and dumped him somewhere under the bridge?
The guilt came in waves because this was all my fault, if I hadn’t insisted on going, if I had just listened to Zane and stayed put.
Eventually, I decided to put my fear aside and forced myself to climb back up.
The car was still there…crumpled, with the front smashed and glass everywhere.
I knew he wasn’t around but Aaron?” My voice came out hoarse.
No answer, I moved closer.
There was blood on the pavement near the driver’s side. Not a lot but enough.
My stomach dropped so violently I had to grab the guardrail to steady myself.
“This is all my fault,” I whispered.
The wind whipped off the river, cutting through my soaked clothes, but I barely felt it over the cold spreading inside my chest.
What if he’d stayed behind to give me time? What if he was lying somewhere under the bridge, unconscious and bleeding out? Whay if they took him because of me?
I walked a few unsteady steps toward the shadowed space beneath the bridge, my heart pounding in my throat.
“Aaron!” I called again, louder this time.
Only the river answered and for the first time since the crash, the full weight of it hit me.
I had no idea if he was alive and not knowing felt even worse than the impact.
Instead of standing there and wallowing in self pity i decided to hitchhike a little, because what else could I do? By the time I reached the main road, my legs felt like they didn’t belong to me. I dont even remember how I ended up standing on asphalt again with cars flying past like nothing had happened.
The bridge looked normal from up there, people were still driving over it.
My clothes were soaked through, the cold had settled into my bones now. My fingers were numb, but I couldn’t stop flexing them because if I stopped moving, I thought I might drop.
I didn’t see Aaron, I didn’t hear him. I told myself that didn’t mean anything even though it clearly meant something.
A sedan slowed when it passed me an I wanted to wave at it, have it help me but I didn’t wave, I didn’t have the strength to perform desperation.
But the next car… a dark gray hatchback slowed more and the window rolled down halfway. The driver was a man in his late thirties maybe p>
“You okay?” he asked carefully.
I opened my mouth to speak buv nothing came out.
I tried again while licking my dry lips.
“We crashed,” I said, and my voice sounded like it belonged to someone else. “At the bridge p>
He leaned forward slightly to look past me.
I didn’t know what he saw, the wreck was partially hidden from that angle.
“Where’s the other car?” he asked.
Other car p>
I almost laughed at that.
“There were two,” I said quietly.
His brows pulled together.
“I need to get home,” I said before he could ask more questions. “Please p>
He hesitated a little bit then he reached over and unlocked the passenger door.
I climbed in. The inside of the car was warm and It hit me all at once. My skin prickled as feeling rushed back into my fingers and toes, I hadn’t realized how badly I was shaking until I sat still.
“You want a hospital?” he asked.
The word hit me in the chest.
Hospital My sister p>
That’s where I was supposed to be going, that’s why I left and now p>
“No,” I said quickly. “Home p>
He nodded once.
“Address p>
I gave him the street two turns before the estate, I wasn’t stupid enough to give the gates to a stranger.
As he pulled away, I turned in my seat and looked back as the bridge disappeared behind us.
Aaron’s face flashed in my head again. What’s if he’d stayed to fight? What if they’d dragged him into one of those cars? And carried him away, what if he was lying under that bridge right now bleeding into the river? Oh god, if he died I simply wouldn’t survive the guilt. My stomach turned so violently I had to press my hand against it.
You left him.
The thought wouldn’t stop repeating.
You ran.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
He told me to go, he told me but that didn’t make it better.
The driver glanced at me once again, then back at the road.
“You should call someone,” he said gently.
Phone!. Fuck my phone! It was in my back pocket, i reached for it praying to god that the water resistance feature actually worked and it didn’t damage from my fall into the water, i took it from my pocket and pressed the power button and luckily it switched on. I stared down at my phone in my hand.