Page 75 of Simply You & Me

Time morphs into something I don't want to understand. Our future was right there, ready for us at home. And now my head rips in a circle as Julian's strong forearm bands me to the seat. How he's holding me still as the car spins out on the quiet road is a miracle. A scream rips from my throat when my head bangs on the cushioned frame of my door just as the crunching metal and loud BANG of the car dropping into the steep ditch rattle my bones.

Groaning, I try not to shift too much, the seat belt now putting pressure below my bump and across my chest. My chest thumps, but my lungs release a panicked cry when I don't feel Julian's hand in mine anymore.

Frantically, I shove my hair out of my face, needing to see if he's okay.

He has to be okay! If he was able to keep me controlled and relatively unharmed, he had to have been able to do the same for himself, right? RIGHT?!

"Julian," I croak, twisting my head and stifling the pained whimper that wants to escape at the whiplash my neck suffered.

Slumped in his seat, I first notice his beautiful orange hair covering his face, obscuring my view. He's not awake if his posture and limp shoulders are anything to go off of.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I'm gasping for breath, trying to figure out if I should risk touching him. Needing to know, needing to see him, I lift his hair and find a steadily bleeding gash on his forehead.

"Julian!" I cry. The urge to shake him is so fucking strong, but I have no idea what could be wrong with him. Why isn't he waking up?! "Julian, baby, please!" I beg and beg, gripping the arm that saved me.

The car nose-dived into the ditch, leaving us at an odd angle just enough to put a strain on my chest and taking away solid ground for my feet. "What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" It's midday. Somebody will be driving by soon, I'm sure. It's not a busy road, but someone has to come. My phone is fuck knows where, and I'm too scared to move. Worry for my baby keeping me in a position I know I can deal with for a little longer.

Flashes of the last ditch I was in threaten to disarm me and leave me powerless. You won’t be powerless. This is your weapon, baby. Wyatt's voice whispers through my mind. Gasping, I fumble for my earlobes while trying to keep the weight off my bump.

Wyatt can track me! He can hear me! He meant for them to be for if Johnny got me, but I can use them to ask for help.

The diamonds click into place on each side, immediately helping me breathe easier. "Wyatt!" I cry into the eerie silence of the car. God, I wish I knew if he was listening. "Wyatt, please! W-we crashed. Julian won't wake up! Please, please, please help. I'm scared."

Glass crunches in the near distance, and my throat immediately closes. I don't know what has my body halting all movements, but something about the shuffling outside the car has the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Wyatt, is-is that you?" I whisper, thinking if it's him, he'll call out to me since he can hear me on his phone. "Wy?—"

"There she is! I've missed you, Add!"

I jump, screaming until my throat turns raw. This can't be happening. No, no, no, no!

"NO! WYATT, HELP! JULIAN!"

Chapter Forty-Nine

Wyatt

"They're leaving now with good news!" Tate exclaims excitedly, throwing himself down onto the cushion beside me.

"What's the news?" Zach looks like he's fucking itching to go get them himself, but the little miss beside him holds him steady.

Tate glowers at his phone even with a small smile still twinkling in his eyes. "It's a surprise they said. We'll just have to wait."

I huff, antsy to see them back home in one piece. One happy piece, preferably. I wonder if they found out the sex of the baby and that's the surprise. Ten minutes in to watching Rory dominate Mario Kart, Tate nudges me.

"How much longer till they’re here?"

I roll my eyes but have been secretly wanting to check their location, too. Both of Addie's earrings ping about fifteen minutes away, but they don't move. They stay in one spot for a whole fifteen fucking seconds before I stand and rush to my office. Not wanting to scare Rory, I keep my steps measured, but as soon as I make it to the stairs, I'm fucking sprinting.

Why aren't they moving? Something happened.

"What happened?" Zach's deep timber rumbles around the space of my office just ask Tate's anxious breaths ratchet my anxiety higher. Firing up my computers, a dead weight settles in my gut.

"Addie's location hasn't moved in I don't know how long. It's just off the road, here," I point to the red dots that signal where my woman is.

"Let's go!" Zach grits out, his hands shaking and his fear barely in check.

"Vests!" I shout, needing them to be prepared.

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