Page 37 of Formula Chance

The flames areeverywhere, shrieking like a feral beast. The heat is so intense that my lungs are burning, and my skin feels like it’s melting. My hands are the worst… searing pain traveling up my arms as I claw at my harness. Smoke fills the air, choking me, and I can’t see past the flickering orange haze. Somehow, I escape the wreckage.

I look up, and there she is.

Bex.

Standing on the edge of the track, her arms crossed over her chest, a strange, almost serene expression on her face. Her hair moves, though there’s no wind, and her gold-flecked eyes glint with an otherworldly light.

But it’s not right. This isn’t how it happened.

“Help me!” I yell to her, my throat feeling like I swallowed razor blades.

Matteo screams and I look over at his car. He’s thrashing in his harness, a dark outline of a burning figure through the orange blaze. We need to get to him.

I turn back to Bex, because surely… she’ll help.

She stands there, unmoving. Same placid laxity to her face.

“You have to help me get him out!” I throw my arms outward to implore her, glance down and notice my hands are still on fire. But I can’t worry about that now.

Bex’s lips part, her voice cutting through the chaos with eerie clarity. “You told me to get out of your hospital room. You clearly don’t need me.”

Her words hit like a sledgehammer. I stumble back, my feet slipping on the slick asphalt, but I remain upright. Hospital room? No. This is the track. This is where it happened.

“Bex!” I shout again, but the words are hardly more than a whisper through the heat and smoke. “Please! He’s trapped!”

She shakes her head. Her eyes are haunting, condemning. “You told me to leave.”

I turn away from her, frantic, desperate to reach Matteo. But he’s gone.

He got out! Elation hits me and I turn back to Bex, hoping she’ll show me an ounce of relief or joy.

But she’s gone too.

Nowhere to be seen and my fucking hands are still on fire. I beat them against my legs, snuffing the flames and strangely, the pain goes away. I’ll find Bex and we’ll figure it out.

Her scream shatters the night, and I whip back toward Matteo’s burning car. To my horror, Bex is inside, struggling to undo the harness. Flames rise high, pushing me back from the heat. Her eyes are wide with terror, her screams intensifying along with her thrashing.

“Help me, Nash! Don’t leave me! Please don’t leave me! I’m sorry I threw the ring at you. Please don’t punish me.”

“I won’t!” I shout back, throwing myself toward the car, ignoring the flames, the suffocating heat. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t reach her. The car is right in front of me, yet every step I take moves it farther away.

The flames rise higher, black smoke swirling. Bex’s screams start to quiet, her thrashing no more. She just stares at me with accusation but I’m powerless.

“Don’t leave me!” Her voice is raw, broken, and I don’t think I’m actually hearing it but feeling the words.

“I’m trying!” I roar back, my throat shredding. “I’m not leaving you!”

I lunge forward one last time, my hand reaching out—

And then I’m awake.

I bolt upright in bed, my chest heaving, sweat pouring. My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my ears, and my hands shake as I rub them over my face.

“Nash?” Bex’s voice is soft, groggy. She rolls over, turns on the bedside lamp and I squint against the harsh light.

Sitting up, she scoots closer to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I flinch from the contact, not sure if it’s because I don’t want her comfort or because I’m riddled with guilt from that nightmare in which I couldn’t save her.

Her brow is furrowed with concern. “What’s wrong?”

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