Page 76 of Unearthed Dreams

CHARLIE

“Chase, slow down,”I yelled over the roar of the engine.

The wind whipped my hair against my face, stinging my cheeks. My fingers ached from gripping Chase’s leather jacket. The speedometer needle crept higher, trees blurring past in dark smears.

“Chase!”

A flashof orange darted into the road.

Chase jerked the handlebars.

My stomach lurched.

Metal screamed.

The world spun.

Sky. Ground. Sky. Ground.

Impact.

Pain.

Sirens wailed in the distance.

Red and blue lights painted the trees.

Voices floated above me, urgent and distorted.

“Female, early twenties...”

“... multiple contusions...”

“... responsive to pain...”

Antiseptic.

Beeping.

White ceiling tiles.

A hand squeezing mine.

“Charlie, can you hear me?”

Darkness creptin from the edges.

Like ink in water.

Like night.

Like nothing.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

KAI

The ER doorsslammed against the wall as I burst through them, my heart thundering against my ribs. The fluorescent lights and antiseptic smell hit me, but I barely noticed. Only one thing mattered.