AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Three
Charlie
“Sir,” the paramedic says, “you have to come with us.” He is crouched down beside me. “You can’t stay here; we have to get you to the hospital.” My back is against a tree from when they pulled me out of the wreckage. The pickup is flipped over, and the front of the truck looks like it’s missing, probably from hitting a tree and being spun around. The bottom of the vehicle is facing up, with a tree branch lying on it. The front right tire lies five feet from the truck, not too far from another pickup involved in the accident. The front of the hood rests on the grass. You can’t even see inside.
“I’m not leaving without her,” I tell them through clenched teeth. “I don’t care if I’m here for the rest of the fucking night. I’m not leaving.” My whole body feels like it’s about to snap in half. I’m not even thinking about the pain shooting through me or the fact that something stabbed my side. The only thing I’m thinking about is finding Jennifer.
“Sir,” he starts again, and if my leg wasn’t busted, I would get up and punch him right in the fucking throat.
“I need a cell phone,” I tell him, “like now.” I put out my hand to him, expecting him to place his phone in my hand so I can call my father.
“Sir,” he tries again. This time, I move my face toward him, going almost face-to-face with him.
“Here.” The cop who has been walking around comes over and hands me his cell phone. “You get one call, then I need some questions answered.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I respond, as I look over and see they are taking Brock out of the truck. “Is he okay?”
“So far,” the cop says as I put the phone to my ear and listen to it ring twice before my father answers it with a groggy voice.
“’Lo,” he answers.
“Dad,” I start, my voice in a whisper, “there was an accident.” All the fear I have is now coming back in full force when I have to say the words out loud.
“What?” he snaps, and I hear him moving around on his side. “Talk to me.”
“I need you to come,” I tell him. “I don’t know where Jennifer is.” The tears fall down my cheeks, and all the pain I’ve felt in my body is now straight in the middle of my chest. Like someone has shoved a knife in the middle of my chest and is twisting it left and right, ready to crack it open. “They don’t know where she is, Dad.” I try to take a breath, but the pain is too much to bear. “Dad, she was in the truck with us, but now she’s not there.”
“I’m coming,” he says. “I’m calling your grandfather, and we’re coming.” I hear a door slam in the background.
“I’m not leaving this place until they find her…” My voice trails off. “I won’t leave here without her.”
“We’ll be there as fast as we can. Are you okay?”
“I have a busted leg,” I admit to him. “Not sure what else. I don’t care. Dad, I’m not fucking leaving here without her.” My teeth clench as I tell him and hope everyone around me is listening.
“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” he assures me. “Charlie.” His voice is almost broken. “I’ll be there in less than an hour.” I don’t answer him. I can’t, my voice would break, and then it would be the longest hour of his life. Instead, I hang up the phone and hand it to the officer waiting there.
“Thank you,” he says, taking the phone from me. “We have a couple of questions, and you are the only one who seems to be awake.” I look up at him. “How many people were in the vehicle?”
“Six,” I reply. “I was in the front with Waylon,” I say, my voice trailing off, “four of them in the back. Brock, Everleigh, Jennifer, and Autumn.”
“Waylon,” he repeats as if he didn’t hear properly. “Cartwright?” He says his name right away and then hisses when I nod. “Fuck,” he swears, shaking his head.
“That’s his truck.” I point at his pickup. He takes his radio out and says something, but my eyes are watching the firefighters use the Jaws of Life to cut off the back door. They remove the door, and I don’t know why I hold my breath. It all feels like it’s happening in slow motion. Blond hair is revealed instead of Jennifer’s brown hair. Autumn falls to the ground, and I see she has blood in her hair. She groans as the firefighters get out of the way so the paramedics can take over. The sound of wailing is coming from across the street, and I look over to see a woman sitting by one of the wrecked vehicles with a man lying on the road. His limp hand is in hers as the paramedics move away from him, and her head falls on him. I see the paramedics shake their heads at the firefighters, and I know the man is gone. My eyes go back to the truck, and I see a firefighter getting into the cab and pulling a woman in his arms. I’m about to get up, even with a busted leg, to rush to see if they found Jennifer when I see him slowly moving Everleigh out.
“Do you know what happened?” he asks me, and I look over at the wreckage of the other two vehicles.
“It happened so fast,” I admit. “I looked forward, and Waylon, I think, lost control. He swerved, and then I felt like we were going in the air.”
“Do you know how fast he was going?” the officer asks, and I shake my head.
“Please,” I plead with him, “if you can go and see if my girlfriend is in there.”
He nods and walks back to another officer, taking someone else’s statement, who stands up and is quietly sobbing in her hands. He looks at him, then at me, and then at the ground before he comes to me.
“There were only five people in the vehicle,” he says softly, not sure what else to say.
“That’s impossible.” I shake my head. “We were all in there.” I point at the truck, the frustration in my voice.
