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Within five minutes, we were on the road, his sister on the car speaker as Theo asked her more questions.
Was she all the way on the shoulder?
Did anyone stop to help her? If so, say no, that help is on the way.
Did she have the car manual from the glove box? Could she get it ready and find the jack?
Watching Theo stress about his seventeen-year-old sister really showed me the person he was. This wasn’t the guy who was horrible to Quentin. Theo cared deeply about his family and was intuitive. It wasn’t the time to revisit what we were chatting about, but he read my face and refused to let me lie my way out of it.
I was glad he got the call when I was with him. I’d hate to imagine him going through this alone, driving scatterbrained.
“Okay, do you see a green car on the right?” He zoomed to the far right lane of the freeway. Cars were flying by us, and a little fear trickled its way down my spine.
I’d hate to be stranded here. Alone. Young. Hell, even now I wouldn’t like it.
“What is the damn speed limit?” he growled.
“There she is.” I pointed about half a mile away. “Put your hazards on and start to slow down.”
We approached the car, and the physical relief on his face made my heart beat faster. Theo loved his family. A warm, gooey sensation formed in my chest at the thought of having someone care for me that much. My dad had, but he was gone. My mom used me as a bank, and my brother never appreciated anything. Our families couldn’t be more different.
“What the fuck is she doing standing this close to the road?” He slammed the car in park and jumped out.
I followed.
“Emily, get to the side of the medium, right now. These cars are flying past you!”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Theo.”
Emily had tears streaming down her face. She trembled as she sniffed, and without thinking, I went into nurse mode.
“You’re probably in shock. Let’s go sit. Do you have water with you?”
She nodded. “I-in the car.”
“Theo, open the drunk and find the jack and spare in there. The user manual is right here. Nice job finding it, Emily.” I passed it to Theo. “Read through to see if there is anything crazy. If not, we can use the jack to prop it up and take off the flat.”
Emily’s water bottle was covered in stickers. I snatched it from the cupholder and made my way over to her. She wrapped her arms around her knees, gravel sticking to the undersides of her legs. “Th-thank you.”
“Take a few sips, then a few deep breaths.” I sat next to her, not caring about the rocks or garbage surrounding us. “What happened?”
“I was going the speed limit because I hate driving on the highway. Cars go so damn fast. Sorry, uh dang.” She hung her head. “I heard this horrible sound, and the car jerked. I thought I was going to die.”
“Hey.” I put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. “You didn’t. You’re here. You’re safe. You did the right thing. Be proud of that.”
She swallowed as a wave of sobs hit her. “I can’t stop sh-shaking.”
“That’s adrenaline. It’s your body’s fight or flight system. It means you made the right choices to protect yourself, but it can be scary when it needs to work its way out.”
“Cars honked at me, and people yelled. I thought… I thought one was gonna crash into me. Then, a guy stopped, asking to help, and he terrified me. He was double my size, but when I screamed, he drove away.”
“He was probably trying to help, but that would’ve scared me too.” I took her hand and squeezed it. “You’re okay now.”
“Audrey, can you help me get the lugs off?”
“Are you okay here? Can I help your brother for a minute?”
She nodded and gave me a watery smile. “Thank you. Daniel told me about you. You’re nice.”
