Chapter
10
Ashalyn
sat frozen in place, her eyes squeezed shut.
When she realized that they were no longer moving and everything was
silent, she tentatively opened her eyes.
It
was dark outside, and there were no street lights on the back roads. The only thing that was there to illuminate
the scene that lay before her was the bright headlights of the truck that had
hit them, which was sitting in the middle of the road, a few yards away from
Brian’s car.
Ashalyn
could feel herself trembling, and she wanted to break down into tears, but she
tried her hardest to remain calm. The
first thing to do was to make sure everyone else was okay. She felt a little achy herself, but it didn’t
seem like she had any major injuries.
Her attention immediately turned next to her, to Mike.
She
gasped when she saw him. He was leaned
up against the car door, which Ashalyn could see was deeply dented in. She could tell right away that he was
unconscious, and she saw blood running down the side of his face. Then she looked closer and realized there was
blood on the door and a large blood stain soaking into the seat. She immediately felt sick to her stomach,
knowing that it was Mike’s blood. He was
bleeding badly.
She
edged across the seat towards him, being careful not to touch him, for she
didn’t want to risk hurting him more.
“Mike?” she whispered, her voice thick with the tears that were rising
inside of her. Was he even alive? She leaned close to him, trying to tell if he
was breathing or not. To her relief, he
was breathing, very raggedly, but still, it meant he was alive.
Her
attention next turned to the front seat.
Leighanne sat in the passenger seat, also slumped against the door. Ashalyn leaned in between the two front
seats, trying to get a better look at Leighanne. She too, was unconscious. Ashalyn peered closer, trying to tell if she
was breathing still. Suddenly, she
caught sight of the window, in which Leighanne’s head was rested against. There was blood smeared all over it, and it
dripped slowly down the window, like raindrops would on a rainy day. She looked closer, and that was when she
caught a glimpse of the side of Leighanne’s head. It was literally smashed in, her skull
crushed, blood seeping out. She was
dead, no doubt about that.
Ashalyn
covered her hand with her mouth and stifled back her sobs. She felt as if she could throw up, but she
took a few deep breaths and held it back, waiting for her nausea to pass. She tried to keep herself calm, remembering
Brian, who sat in front of her, in the driver’s seat. She turned and looked at him, almost afraid
at what she would find.
He
was sitting back in his seat, his eyes closed, also unconscious. Ashalyn could see a small gash on his
forehead, but other than that, he didn’t seem to be bleeding. To her relief, he was breathing
normally. Ashalyn gently touched his
shoulder, to see if he would wake up. He
didn’t move. She was almost relieved,
for she didn’t want him to see his wife like that.
Certain
that Brian was in better shape than Mike, Ashalyn turned her attention back to
her own boyfriend. He was still
breathing raspily and unsteadily, and she was worried that he might not last
long.
She
didn’t know if anyone had called for an ambulance yet, but there was no sign of
help coming. She looked out at the
truck, but saw no one around it. She
couldn’t tell if the driver was in it still or not, but she really didn’t care
right then. She needed a cell
phone. She didn’t have hers with her,
but she knew Brian or Leighanne would have one.
She leaned back into the front seat, and the first thing she saw was
Leighanne’s purse, tipped over on the front seat. Ashalyn grabbed it and quickly unzipped it
and rummaged through, trying to find her cell phone. She felt guilty about going through
Leighanne’s purse after she had just passed away, but this was an
emergency.
The
cell phone was buried towards the bottom of Leighanne’s purse. Ashalyn grabbed it, turned it on, and hastily
dialed 911. When an operator answered,
she quickly explained what had happened and tried her best to tell him where
they were. Then she hung up, turning
back to Mike. To her surprise, his hazel
eyes were open and looking right at her.
“Ash?”
he asked, his voice so weak it came out as a hoarse whisper.
“Mikey,
baby,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
She quickly grabbed his hand and stroked it gently.
“I…
I love… you… Ash,” Mike said, nearly gasping for breath.
“Mike,
don’t say that!” Ashalyn cried, her eyes widening. “Please, hold on. Don’t leave me!”
“I’ll…
always… be with… you,” he said.
“No!”
she shrieked, clutching his hand for dear life.
“Don’t
worry… there’s… no pain,” he said, as if ignoring her hysterics. At this comment, her tears rushed even
more. But she suddenly realized the
truth, that those next few minutes could be the last she ever spent with him.
“Baby,
can I do anything for you?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“Just…
hold me,” he said, closing his eyes briefly and opening them again.
Letting
out a sob, Ashalyn wrapped her arms around his body, which was shaking, and
pulled him close to her. She no longer
cared about hurting him worse. As much
as she wanted to believe otherwise, she just knew deep inside that this was
it. And if he wanted her to hold him,
she would, no matter what. More tears
flooded her eyes as her hands became sticky with the blood that was obviously
coming from a wound in his back. But she
didn’t care, she just held him tighter.
She could feel his arms come weakly around her as well.
“Mike,
I love you so much,” she said softly.
“I’ve loved you ever since I was just a little girl, and I’ll never love
anyone like I love you ever again.”
“Thanks…
babe… but, please… don’t say… that… I want… you to… love… again,” Mike rasped.
“No,”
she whispered softly. “You’re the only
one for me, Michael Crandall.”
“Ash…
please… promise me… that… you’ll… love again,” Mike said.
Ashalyn
sighed. “Mikey, I promise that if I find
anyone that makes me happy, like you do, and that means even half as much as
you do to me, then maybe I’ll try to love again,” Ashalyn said. “But I know that’s not going to happen.”
“You…
might be… surprised,” Mike whispered.
“Ash… it won’t… be… much… longer… now.”
“Please,
baby, don’t leave me,” Ashalyn cried, her voice rising shrilly.
“I’ll…
never… leave you,” Mike said, his eyes closing.
“Goodbye…. I… love… you.”
Suddenly,
his shaking body relaxed in her arms.
His weak grip on her hand when totally limp. The sound of his painful breathing stopped,
and all was silent.
Ashalyn
broke the eerie silence by breaking into loud, racking sobs.
***
