Chapter
21
“Where do you want to go?
Anywhere in particular?” Nick asked, glancing at Angela, as he drove.
“I want to go to the beach,” Angela said softly.
“This late at night?” he asked.
She ignored his question and said, “I used to go to the beach a
lot when I lived in South Carolina. I
miss it.” She smiled sadly, then added,
“I remember how my mom used to take me when I was little.”
Nick smiled sympathetically, realizing how much she missed her
mother. But there was no bringing her
mother back, for she was dead. As
Angela’s father was now.
“Well, okay. Let’s head to
the beach then,” Nick said. It was a
long drive to Daytona, which was one of the nearest beaches, but he was willing
to do anything to make her happy.
Besides, the beach at night was beautiful. He figured they could find a hotel room to
stay in overnight and come back the next day.
Angela smiled gratefully.
“Thanks, Nick,” she replied.
“No problem. It’s been
awhile since I’ve been to the beach too, so I’ll be glad to go,” he said. “You want to stop by your house to get your
bathing suit?”
She slowly shook her head.
“No, I don’t want to go back there right now. I don’t really feel like swimming
anyway. I just want to go there, just to
get things off my mind, you know?”
“Sure,” Nick replied.
“That’s fine.”
She smiled again, and leaned back against the seat, contently
watching the Florida scenery pass by.
***
Nick yawned as he drove on.
It was nearly midnight, and they were only about halfway there. He looked over to see Angela sound asleep.
There’s no way we can make it tonight. I’m exhausted, Nick
thought, yawning again. Up ahead, he
saw an exit sign, leading to a small, rural town. Nick pulled onto the exit, hoping it would
have a hotel or some kind of bed and breakfast where they could stay, knowing
he was too tired to drive them all the way to Daytona Beach. He needed to get some sleep.
The exit led Nick to a rural road, which was deserted at that time
of night. The road was narrow and badly
paved, and he struggled to keep himself alert to maneuver his car down it. His gaze on focusing on the road itself, he
didn’t notice the sign to his right saying ROAD CLOSED AHEAD FOR CONSTRUCTION
and another following it saying DETOUR à. He drove on, and as he did so, the road’s
condition worsened.
Suddenly, the car’s right front tire ran into a deep pothole,
which had been hidden from his headlights on the dark road. The car jerked, and Nick heard the pop of
his tire. Immediately, the car jerked to
the right and started running off the road.
Struggling to regain control, Nick jerked the wheel hard to the
left. As soon as he did so, he realized
it was a mistake, for the car swerved to the left and begin to spin. Nick heard the screech of his tires, the
crash of the brush to the side of the road, and the shrill scream of Angela, as
his car gyrated off the left side of the road.
Nick was catapulted forward, his seat belt digging into his
stomach and chest as it worked to restrain him.
His head jerked to the side, banging hard into his window. Just as the pain hit him, his world went black.
***
