Page 23 of Born To Be My Baby

Mina pulled up her phone, scrolled a little bit, tapped on something, and read quietly. After a moment, she locked eyes with her.

"They want to have a meeting on Monday."

Gloria nodded. "Yup, I was waiting for that. Does it say what the meeting's about - as if we don't know?" She rotated her head and pulled her shoulders back as far as she could until she felt the burn. She held it a few seconds, then slowly released them. There was a knot forming in her shoulders and neck.

Mina shook her head. "No, but I'm responding right now, telling them we need some details. What do you think about me calling Jazz from Jazz's PR? Let's see if she can get ahead of this and get some of this dust to settle before the meeting on Monday, and maybe she needs to come with us, too."

Gloria shrugged. "I don’t think we need her there. I do think we need our attorneys there. See if you can get someone from the firm to come. We have a contract through the end of the year. The conduct clause shouldn't apply to this. But they'll likely try to apply it that way."

Sean turned his head and looked at her. "What are you thinking? Are you thinking they're going to cancel you?"

She raised her brows. "That's exactly what I'm thinking. Have you seen the Internet reports? Have you seen what they're saying about me? I'm a terrible mother. I'm a bitch. I'm awful. How could I do this to you and Mina? All the things. No network wants to hitch on to that."

"Well, that's bullshit. We'll have our PR firm do some damage control, too."

She shrugged. "I don't know, Sean. I just don't know. I need some time to think. I need some time to think about all this. I don't know what any of this means. I don't know how I feel about any of it." She let out a long breath. "I don't know."

Sean looked in his rearview mirror and his eyebrows pinched together. He glanced down at the speedometer and then stared at the road ahead. He slowed as they neared a line of cars. They were on a two-lane road, so it was very hard to pass. He swore under his breath and she looked at him. His brows bunched together, and he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

Twisting in her seat, she looked back and saw an SUV speeding toward them.

It sped right past them in the left lane. A photographer hung out of the window and snapped multiple pictures of them. The windows were tinted, so he wasn't going to get much in the way of photos. The SUV swerved slightly.

Sean sat up straight and gripped the wheel tighter. He yelled, "Oh, my God, brace yourself. They're about to crash."

Just as he said that, the car tried getting into the lane in front of them. Sean slammed on his brakes, but the car turned into them. They rolled down a small embankment. The sounds of crunching metal and glass breaking filled her ears. Mina screamed. The SUV rolled once more, and she smashed her head on the window.

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Sean blinked a few times to clear the dust. It swirled in the vehicle and he realized he was upside down. His seat belt was tight, cutting into his hips. He tried to loosen it and then realized he'd fall on his head.

He twisted to look back at Mina. She hung in the back seat, blood dripped from her head. Her eyes were closed and he couldn't tell if she was breathing.

"Mina! Mina, honey! Wake up, Mina!" He had a hard time making his voice loud enough to hear. Ringing in his ears prevented him from hearing himself.

He tried twisting to reach back and touch her. He pulled on the seats to stretch himself back. He couldn't reach her. He fought with the seat belt, finding the latch, he released it, bracing himself with his left hand so he didn't fall on his head.

Once he'd freed himself from his seat, he scrambled and twisted himself around. He looked over at Gloria. She was unconscious. He shook her, "Gloria! Gloria! Wake up, Gloria!" He felt her neck for a pulse. She had one. Relief sizzled through him.

He scrambled on the crumpled roof of his SUV. One of his guitars had flown up and laid against Mina. He pushed it away from her and felt her neck for a pulse. Her coloring was weird, bluish or gray. He could feel a pulse, but it was faint. He was afraid to release her seat belt. The extent of her injuries wasn’t known, and didn't he read somewhere once where you weren't supposed to do anything until the ambulance crew got there in case you caused more harm? He remembered seeing that.

Feeling around his pockets, he found his phone. He stretched himself out enough that he could remove it from his pocket. Careful not to kick Mina's arms, which hung down onto the roof.

From his thrashing around, the vehicle wiggled, then rocked. He braced himself between the front and back seats as the vehicle tilted over to the side.

Mina now hung precariously from her seat belt. Tears filled his eyes. He remembered those stupid reporters. Stupid fucking reporters!

Sirens sounded and his heart beat faster as relief finally allowed him to take a breath. He managed to place his thumb on the nine on his phone and held it down.

He heard, "911, what's your emergency?" Lifting his phone with his right hand, he responded, "This is Sean West. I've been in an accident. We've been in an accident. I need an ambulance. I have my...my girlfriend and my daughter in the car."

He swallowed and stared at Mina. “My daughter. She's turning blue. She's hanging from the seat belt. I don't know what to do. I'm afraid to move her. I'm afraid to undo the seat belt. I need someone here. She's turning blue. I need help. I need help." Panic filled his chest as he spoke.

"Calm down, Mr. West. Let me help you till ambulance crews arrive. Is that the accident on forty-eight?"

"Yes. Yes. It is. We rolled. The vehicle rolled. We're in a field somewhere. The vehicle just rolled again. We were on the roof, but it was tilted to the side. I guess my thrashing around caused it to roll a little bit more."

"All right. Stay calm, Mr. West. Stay still. Ambulance crews are coming. Can you feel a pulse? Does your daughter have a pulse? And your girlfriend, does she have a pulse?"

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