Page 86 of Malicious Marriage

CLOVER

“Bobby! Oh, God, what’s wrong? What’s wrong!”

Lunging over from the passenger seat, I grab the wheel and wrench it to the left to try and keep us on the road, but it’s a struggle.

Bobby groans and gasps, clutching at his chest with a deep cry of pain. Sweat pours from his brow and his body tips back, rigid and pale. “Clo–Clover!”

“Brakes! Hit the brakes, Bobby!”

He doesn’t. The car goes faster and faster while gravel, twigs, and dirt fly up from the grass and bushes lining the road. I try to wrestle the car back onto the road in the hopes it’ll make the jostling less and I’ll have more control, but before I can, a bend in the road approaches far too quickly.

“Bobby!”

“I c–can’t breathe!” Bobby chokes out.

“Bobby!” The car veers right off the road and for a few seconds, we’re floating, flying through the air like we’re completely weightless. Then the car drops and we hit the ground with a loud crash. The car barrels down the incline, crashing through bushes and small trees until we hit something thatsends me crashing hard into the dashboard. The steering wheel slips from my fingers as darkness descends.

Am I dead?

I should be.

How has life become so utterly and terribly fucked? Death would be a mercy at this point, but I’m not granted such a kindness.

Opening my eyes, something sticky leaks into the corner of my left eye so I immediately close both as pain throbs across my forehead. Something beeps rhythmically in the car and my seatbelt presses painfully against my chest and shoulder.

We crashed.

Shit.

We fucking crashed!

My eyes snap open. The windshield is utterly smashed but thankfully still in one piece and protecting us from the tree now wedged into the front of the car. We’re still on the incline so both Bobby and I hang forward against our seatbelts, only Bobby isn’t awake. Both his arms are limp and his head flops to one side.

“Bobby?”

No answer.

“Bobby!”

Still nothing.

Shit. Think, Clover, think!All I want to do is curl up in a ball and sob about the disaster with my sister and the revelations with Dean, but now there’s no time.

Phone.

I need my phone.

My shoulders ache while I quickly pat down my pockets and seek out my phone. While it turns on, the sight of no bars for connection makes my heart sink. This is my fault. I begged Bobby to just drive me somewhere with no destination in mind so we headed for what looked like the peaceful quiet of a forestsurrounding the base of the mountain. I just needed space to breathe and think, although mostly I was sobbing and trying to tell Bobby how utterly screwed I was.

And then he was in pain and rigid and…

My eyes fill with tears as I hit the Emergency Call on my phone over and over. It beeps and nothing connects.

“Shit. Shit. Bobby?”

Still nothing. No sound. No movement.

Hastily wiping away my tears, I glance through the windows at the dark forest that rises up all around the car. How far did we fall? How long was I even unconscious?