Page 43 of The Road Ahead
We reached the lookout and zipped past the parking lot, heading downhill. The car flew around the bends, sliding across lanes and coming even closer than before to the guardrail. At one point, I felt the car actually tap the rail, but Rio simply used the inertia to throw the car into the opposite corner. Later, I’d be able to fully appreciate the lengths they were going to, to reach Teresa, but for now I could only silently urge them on.
“Cooper,” Brad rasped, a note of panic in his voice. “I can’t see her chest moving anymore!”
My heart stuttered in my chest. “Brad, we’re close,” I said, as Rio slowed down slightly as we approached the area we believed them to be. “Hold on. We’re coming.”
A sob echoed through the car. “Oh God, I can’t lose her,” Brad cried. There was the sound of him struggling, and then a scream of pain, agony, and desperation. “I can’t get to her. Terry! Baby, please, please don’t leave me. Please, baby. Please.”
I fought against my own despair, knowing it would do Teresa no good. Brad continued to cry out to her, each racking sob like a knife to my heart.
“There!” Rio cried, and lifted a hand from the steering wheel to point at a pair of headlights on the side of the road.
As we pulled up alongside, I saw it was the Mustang from before. I raked my eyes around the area and noticed skid marks leading off the road. “Rio,” I urged, pointing.
“I see it,” Rio said, and drove up to the edge of the road, lights pointing into the abyss below.
“Brad, we’re here. We’re coming,” I told him.
The only response was Brad’s harsh sobs.
We jumped out of the car, and Rio headed to the trunk. “I’ve got a basic first aid kit and a flashlight,” they said, ripping it open and reaching inside.
I accepted the flashlight and ran for the edge of the road, just as Jimmy’s car arrived. I shone the light over the edge, towards the tail lights of Brad’s car, far below. It was on its side, driver’s side down, looking like it had rolled several times.
“Ambulance is on its way,” Jimmy called. “The others are coming—I’ll get them to check on Troy and his passenger.”
“Tell the EMTs we’ll need a defib ASAP,” I yelled, already moving as I picked out a path through the debris on the steep slope.
Jimmy yelled something back that I didn’t hear, too busy concentrating on making my way towards Brad’s Eclipse. My foot suddenly slipped and for one heart-stopping moment, my arms windmilled and I teetered on tumbling headfirst down into the ravine. Something snagged on the back of my shirt and I was pulled backwards against a firm body.
“Easy,” Rio said from behind me.
I nodded, and started down again, taking extra care of where I placed my feet.
“Jimmy has one of those portable defib machines in his car,” Rio told me as we descended. “He’s right behind us, bringing both it and his first aid kit with him.”
Relief washed through me. That could make all the difference. The car was only a dozen feet away now, and I threw caution to the wind and leapt down, catching myself on a nearby tree and skidding to a halt. “Brad,” I called. “We’re here.”
“Please help her,” he cried.
I did a quick assessment, noting the Eclipse was wedged against a rocky outcrop and wouldn’t be moving anytime soon. Confident that I wouldn’t send the vehicle—with my sister and Brad inside it—further down the ravine, I clambered up onto the side of the hood. The passenger door was dented, but not too badly, and I managed to wrench it open.
“What do you need?” Rio called out.
“Utility knife,” I replied as I shone the flashlight into the dark interior of the car. Teresa was hanging awkwardly by her seatbelt and even with the shitty lighting, I could see her complexion had the gray, waxy look that told me her heart wasn’t beating. “I need you to come up here and help me,” I called down to Rio. Below Teresa, I could see Brad’s wide-eyed face staring up at me. He was covered in blood, but I couldn’t do anything for him yet. “Hold in there,” I told him, and he simply nodded.
Rio held out their hand, and I hauled them up onto the car. They crouched by the open door and met my gaze, awaiting instructions.
“I need to cut her free and get her out so I can start CPR,” I told them. “I need you to support her and help me get her out.”
Rio nodded. “Need me to squeeze in there?”
I assessed the space and determined that Rio should be able to fit between the deflated airbags and Teresa. “If you think you can get down there without injuring Brad further, then yes.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Brad told us. “Just get her out.”
“It’s okay,” Rio told me. “I got this.”
I supported Rio’s arms as they hovered above the open door, and then they wriggled down past Teresa. Bracing one foot on the dash, and the other on the edge of the driver’s seat, they lowered their arms into the car. “I need you to hold her weight so she doesn’t fall as I cut the belt,” I told Rio.
