Chapter 12 #2
“Exactly. They were . . .” My voice trailed off as the sound of screeching tires drowned out the laughter and conversation behind us.
It felt like the world had slowed down as I watched a little girl sprint across the grass toward the parking lot, followed closely by a larger boy who was holding something out in front of him.
The little girl squealed with excitement, looking back over her shoulder at the boy.
He was so focused on catching her that he didn’t notice the car that had just veered into the ditch nearby.
They were still running when the car flew up and hit the edge of the parking lot. The concrete curb slowed the car down, but not enough to make a difference.
The sound of the undercarriage scraping the concrete was almost deafening. It finally caught the children’s attention, but it was too late. The car was headed straight for them, and the person slumped behind the steering wheel couldn’t stop it.
I didn’t even realize I was running until the bottom of my foot slammed down on a sharp rock and my ankle twisted in protest. The pain that shot up my leg wasn’t enough to slow me down, though. I reached the boy just in time to sweep him into my arms and launch us into the air.
In the movies, the car might have passed under us. In reality, I only had a millisecond to hope for a miracle before my back hit the windshield.
I felt the glass crack behind me, but I kept my arms around the little boy - even when I heard the little girl’s ear-piercing scream and Moe’s loud shout as they landed on the hood just inches away from us.
I opened my eyes in time to see that we were about to slam into a parked vehicle.
As soon as the bumpers touched, the impact threw us forward.
I used the momentum to twist us around in the air so the boy didn’t get crushed against the tailgate of the truck or shove Moe and the girl into the truck.
Everything was still moving in slow motion as the little boy and I flew over Moe and the girl she was holding.
I had a fleeting, ironic thought: Moe, the woman who hated anything sparkly, was cradling a little girl in a pink tutu and glittery boots.
Then, I landed on my back in the bed of the parked truck, and the boy landed right on top of me.
He lifted his head and stared down at my face before he let out an ear-splitting scream that sounded more triumphant than pained. “Holy! Shit! Batman! Did you see that?”
“Errgh ugh . . .” was the only noise I could make as I desperately tried to take a breath.
“What just happened?” he asked me with wide eyes. “Are you dead?”
“No,” I choked out. I fought the urge to roll us to the side in the hopes it would make it easier to breathe. “Be still in case you’re hurt, okay?”
“I’m not hurt! Are you?” he asked before he used my shoulder to push himself up so he could look over the rail of the truck bed. “Lyric! Are you okay?”
“Koda? Where are you?”
“Are you okay?” he demanded as I tried to hold him still, praying that he didn’t have an injury that was masked by the adrenaline of the situation.
I wasn’t expecting it when a sweet little voice answered, “No! Fuck me, that hurts!”
Suddenly, time wasn’t standing still anymore.
The bubble we had been in burst with a jolt as voices got closer, with children and adults alike screaming the kids’ names.
A man’s face appeared upside down above mine as he peered over the edge of the rail.
“Holy shit! Oh, fuck! I thought . . . Oh, my God!”
“Lettuce! Did you see me flying?”
“Holy . . . be still, Koda. You might be injured. Just be still, okay?”
“Did you see it?” the boy asked again before he flopped back down onto my chest.
I groaned in pain but kept my arms around him as the man assured him, “I promise you, boy, that was a sight I will never forget for as long as I live.”
He lifted his head and stared at me before he winced. I was horrified when he said, “I think there’s a bone sticking out of your neck.”
Apparently, he was even more horrified because his eyes suddenly rolled back and he slumped down, out cold at the sight of . . . Shit! My shoulder was on fire!
“Is he . . .”
“He’s breathing; he just passed out. He needs to stay still until the paramedics arrive,” I choked out through the pain.
“How bad are you hurt?” the man asked.
“I think I’m pretty fucked up,” I whispered as I tried to sniff back the tears that had been threatening to spill since I landed. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything!”
“Will you put your hand on my foot and tell me if you can feel anything?”
I felt a warm hand touch my ankle and sighed with relief as I desperately wiggled my toes to see what his reaction might be. “You’re toes are moving, sweetheart. I promise.”
“Oh, thank God,” I choked out through my tears. “I was . . . Oh, shit, I was so afraid.”
The little boy in my arms made an odd sound. I worried for a second before I realized he was snoring. Snoring! We’d just been through a life-altering and traumatic event, and the boy was sleeping?
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
“Honey, we’ve been asking that same question since the day he was born.”