Page 60 of Finding a Melody

We were slammed into. I screamed, nearly dropping the phone. Pain ricocheted through my body, my spine finally unable to handle all the jerking around. I cried out before biting it back as my mouth filled with copper.

“They’re hitting us,” I managed to cry out, my fingers going numb from gripping the phone so tightly.

“Help is less than a mile away. They’re driving toward you.”

We could hear the sirens now. But that meant so did the Ryder gang. They slammed into us again, and then there was a popping noise. The back window broke.

“Down!” Seth yelled.

Another popping noise and the truck tilted. We went skidding and this time, there was no saving us. We were both screaming as we went into the ditch, the front end slamming into one of the utility poles.

The sirens were louder, but so was the ringing in my head. I thought I heard someone speaking through the phone, but couldn’t focus on the words. The truck made clanking noises before going silent except for a harsh hissing sound.

Briefly, I swore I heard someone at my door trying to open it.

“Fuck!” Then they were running as the sirens got louder and louder.

“They left,” Seth groaned. “Thank fuck. They left. Cadence, are you okay?”

I moaned and blinked open my eyes, trying to focus through all the blurriness. Something hot dropped into my eyes and I wiped it away, only to realize it was blood.

“I’m alive,” I groaned, though it felt a bit like a lie. My body hurt. Everywhere.

The sirens were loud now, blue and red lights reflecting off the truck and broken pieces of glass.

We were safe and alive.

I moaned and tilted my head back, waiting for them to help me. I wasn’t so sure I could move on my own right then. I felt like jelly, the fear gone. But that left room for only more pain.

“Stay with me, Cadence,” I heard Seth.

I grunted.

And then rested my eyes for a moment. Just a moment. Maybe then my head would stop screaming.

Chapter Twenty

I didn’t know where I was when I woke up. There was beeping. A weird smell of cleanliness. And an echo of steps. My head hurt, but the room was dimmed just enough to see without being blinded.

All the signs were there. I was familiar enough with them. I had a concussion. Everything was a little blurry, and the drums were going crazy against my brain. It was like my brain pulsed against my skull, off tempo with the rest of my body. I turned my head slightly, not wanting to move too fast.

Nausea rolled through me, and I froze, not moving an inch until it settled. Once it calmed, I looked around a bit more closely.

Seth was curled up on the chair next to me. He had a bandage on his forehead and his skin was still pale. He looked as shitty as I felt, frankly. Shifting caught my attention and it took me a moment to look to the other side.

My gaze was met with sad gray ones. “Paxon?” I croaked out, my throat sore from the lack of use.

“You’re awake,” he whispered, and it was like he released a thousand and one emotions in the breath he let out. His smile wavered as he leaned forward and grabbed my hand. “Damn, Cadence. You scared the shit out of us.”

“What happened?” I asked, trying to connect dots. I knew we were being chased by the Ryder gang, but I didn’t understand how that got me here. Did they run us off the road? If so, then how was I still alive?

Paxon’s expression hardened. “Seth said they managed to get you guys off the road. You were okay, but then you passed out. They had to cut you out of the truck, and then rushed you to the hospital. You were unconscious the whole time.”

“How long?” I asked. What if I were out for days or weeks?

“It’s still Sunday. Or well, Monday morning,” Paxon answered, squeezing my hand.

I rested my head back on the overly plush pillow, relief flooding through me. I was tempted to punch at the pillow to flatten it, but knew that wasn’t going to work.