Page 89 of Seduced By You

My feet slid with every step I took. My shoes had some tread, but not nearly enough for a mountain covered in a thick layer of snow and ice. Several times, I fell. Each time, I got up and kept going.

How long had I been out? How long had it been since we’d crashed? An hour? More? Every second counted.

An eagle soared above me, dipping its wings, circling. Looking for prey. At least it wasn’t a vulture. Then I’d know for sure we were well and truly fucked.

Lee was a survivor. She’d come through this. She had to. I couldn’t have another death on my hands. Not another one. Not this one.

Not her.

This was my fault. I was responsible. I’d been the one driving. I’d lost control.

Dear God, if you require a sacrifice, let it be me.

I slipped again. Got up. Slipped. Got up. One foot in front of the other.

I paused. Wait. Was that… was that…?

The faint whir of sirens in the distance reached me. My knees buckled, hands clawing at the snow.Please, God, let them be coming for us.I took off my jacket. They might not see me, but I had to try. I was still five or six meters from the roadside. I waved the jacket over my head. The sirens grew louder, the unmistakable sound of tires on asphalt approaching. Getting slower. Slower.

“We’re here!”

I couldn’t stop myself from yelling, even though they’d never hear me over that racket.

The sight of a bright yellow ambulance coming into view sent me to my knees again. It stopped right above me. Seconds later, an EMT peered over the side.

“Here!” I cried. “Thank God.”

* * *

The fire service winched Lee up first. She’d regained consciousness for a few seconds, but nothing she said made any sense. I kissed her forehead. It killed me to let her go, but what use was I? She needed medics, not me.

A second ambulance arrived for me and for Dash, although they weren’t too happy about transporting a cat. Too bad. We came as a package. Lee would never forgive me if I left Dash out here. Shivering, I sat in the back, refusing to lie down on the gurney. The EMT put a blanket around my shoulders. Even that hurt. He cleaned me up, dressed my wounds, and put my shoulder in a sling.

I didn’t care about me. All I cared about was Lee. Why her?Why did she have to be with me when I crashed the fucking car? I should’ve been alone.She didn’t deserve this.

I didn’t deserve her.

Why hadn’t I pulled the emergency brake? That was its whole fucking purpose. I should have tried something,anything.Instead, I froze.

Lee’s injuries were my punishment for Henry. I’d never paid through the courts. The Swiss authorities had declared it an accident, but I’d always believed Dad had paid a handsome price for my freedom. If I had gone to prison, would life have been different? Would this guilt be easier to bear?

I knew one thing: Lee would be safe in her bed rather than in an ambulance on her way to the hospital. This was the butterfly effect in full flow. Everything we did impacted the universe around us. Each action left a footprint, the effects of which we might not see for years. But when the ripples reached their destination, the consequences could be devastating.

I was living proof of how devastating.

“Do you want some pain relief, monsieur?”

I shook my head. I needed to feel the pain. Every agonizing bit of it. “How did you find us?”

“Your vehicle had an SOS feature. As soon as you crashed, it called the emergency services, and we were dispatched to your location.”

Thank Christ for modern technology. All that time searching for my cell, and the car had already made the life-saving call.

Dash meowed. I stuck my finger through the bars. He licked me as if to say, “We’re in this together.” Maybe this was how we finally bonded. Except I’d rather live under the threat of losing precious parts of my anatomy and have Lee safe and well.

We arrived at the hospital, where they insisted that I sit in a wheelchair, even though I could walk perfectly well. Procedure, apparently. I asked the nurse taking care of me about Lee, but she had no information.

A doctor examined my injuries. Much to my surprise, my shoulder wasn’t dislocated, but it was strained. Instructing me to rest it and apply ice regularly, he signed my discharge forms. Picking up Dash, I set off to find Lee.

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