Page 109 of Love Me Fierce

“Vivian!”

The voice is muffled, but every cell in my body sharpens.

“Everett!” I cry out. “I’m in here!”

More rocks ping and crash against the side of my car. “We’re going to get you out of there!” Everett calls out from outside my door. “EMS is on their way.” He tugs on my door latch, but it doesn’t open. It’s probably wedged into place.

“Talk to me, Vivian,” he says, sounding frantic. “Did the airbags go off?”

“Yes,” I say. “The seatbelt’s stuck.”

He moves to the door behind me, but that latch won’t open either. “Damn it!” More rocks tumble down, plunking against the metal.

When he comes back to the driver’s side window, through the fractured glass, his face looks distorted and dark. “Are you still wearing the rain jacket?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“Okay, can you to pull it up over you? I’m going to push in the window. The glass will break away and fall down.”

“I’ll try.” It’s difficult with the seatbelt still tight on me. Each inch I move makes my ribs burn, but I get the hood up and do my best to curl away from the window. “Okay!”

“All right, stay inside the coat until I tell you! Eyes closed!”

A loud crackling and squeaking fills the cab, followed by a cold gush of air. Tiny glass pieces bounce off my shoulder and the back of my head and tumble down, across the dash and console and into the passenger seat.

“Almost there!” Everett calls out.

I keep my eyes clenched shut. Chunks of class collect in the gapunder my right leg and in the space between my left thigh and the seat. The rest of the window frame drops past me, clattering to the far side of my car. Rain blasts in, and a siren wails in the distance.

“Okay,” Everett says, breathing hard.

He helps me peel back the edge of the hood. The second my eyes find his, I start to cry again. “How did you know I was here?”

“You didn’t pick up your phone.” He gently caresses my face, his eyes tense.

“Someone crashed into me,” I say in a rush.

His face tenses. “Did you see them?”

“No. Just the car. A tan SUV. Big, like a Suburban.”

He strokes my forehead. “You’re being so brave, baby. Tell me where you’re hurt.”

“My head. Maybe some ribs.”

He glances in through the window, to where my leg is still bent. “Did you get your leg out like that?”

“I was trying to get the seatbelt to release.”

“Let me help,” he says. “Unless you want to wait for the crash crews.”

“No,” I shake my head, but it just makes my vision swim. “Please. Get me out of here.”

“Okay.”

Together, with him reaching in to support me around the middle, and me pushing off the console with my toes, the tension in the seatbelt gives. Blindly, I reach for the button, feeling my way to the release. It pops free. I think I’m going to fall, but Everett holds me tight.

“Nice and easy,” he says in my ear.

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