"Please… don't leave me…" she whispered to herself, her lips quivering as fresh tears streaked down her face.
The image of his face when he told her it was over burned in her mind. The sharp edge of his words still cut her open, and yet, all she could think of was holding onto him. Fixing them. Reminding him of the love that once made them inseparable.
She wasn't ready to let him go. She would never be ready.
"Ethan!" she cried into the night, though he was too far to hear. Her sob caught in her throat as her vision blurred again, but she didn't dare blink. She couldn't lose him. Not like this.
But then—
Headlights.
Her breath caught.
The tires screeched.
For one terrifying second, everything seemed to freeze—the world outside the windshield tilting in slow motion. The headlights that had suddenly appeared from the side blinded me, forcing my eyes shut. Then came the sound—metal twisting against metal, glass bursting into a thousand tiny shards.
My body was thrown forward, the seatbelt snapping against my chest so hard I gasped, all the air punched out of me. My head slammed into the side window, a sharp crack exploding inside my skull. Pain radiated everywhere, sharp, hot, relentless.
I couldn't even scream. The sound stuck in my throat.
The car jolted sideways, spinning. I heard the crunch of metal, the crash of something heavy slamming into the passenger side. My arms flew off the wheel, my body yanked around like I wasn't even mine anymore.
No, no, no…
I tried to hold on, but everything was too fast, too violent.
When the car finally stopped moving, I was left trembling, pinned against the seat. My chest rose and fell too quickly, like I couldn't get enough air. The taste of iron filled my mouth. Blood. My tongue felt thick, heavy, as I tried to swallow it down.
The windshield was spiderwebbed with cracks. Shattered glass sparkled across my lap. My hands shook as I lifted them, staring in shock at the small cuts already dripping red.
I wanted to move. I wanted to get out. But when I tried, pain stabbed through my ribs. My body refused to listen.
The world around me was strangely quiet, almost too quiet. Until it wasn't.
Honking. Shouting. The sound of doors slamming open.
"Call 911!" a woman's voice shrieked.
"Someone's hurt—she's bleeding!" another voice added.
The reality of it all sank in like ice water through my veins.
I was in an accident.
I tried to blink the dizziness away, but my vision doubled, the world shifting in and out of focus. My breath came out uneven, shaky. My body shook so badly I couldn't stop it.
"Stay still, miss!" a man yelled from somewhere nearby. His voice trembled. "Help is coming, okay? Just stay with us!"
Stay with them? I couldn't even stay with myself. My head tilted back against the seat, heavy, my eyelids fluttering shut.
And then—Ethan's face flashed in my mind. His voice from earlier, sharp and cold.
We're done, Althea.
My heart clenched. No. That couldn't be the last thing he ever said to me. That couldn't be it.
I forced my lips to move. My voice came out broken, barely a whisper.
"…Ethan…"
"Don't talk, miss! Just stay awake!"
But I couldn't stop. His name was all I had left.
Tears slipped down my cheeks, mixing with the blood. My chest burned, every breath harder than the last. I wanted to tell him I didn't mean it—that I loved him too much to let go. That I didn't want to lose him.
But the world kept slipping further away.
Sirens.
The sound grew closer, sharp and piercing through the chaos. Red and blue lights flickered across the broken glass, painting the night in dizzying colors.
"Paramedics are here!" someone shouted.
Doors slammed. Heavy boots pounded the ground.
"She's conscious but fading—watch her head!"
"BP's dropping, we need to move fast!"
Hands touched me, firm but careful. Someone cut through the seatbelt. Strong arms lifted me, placing me onto a stretcher. I winced, my body screaming in pain, but I couldn't even find the strength to cry out anymore.
The world rocked as they carried me, the cold night air hitting my skin. I wanted to open my eyes, to see their faces, but my eyelids felt glued shut.
"She's losing a lot of blood—get her stabilized!"
"We're almost at the ambulance, hang on!"
Hang on.
But I couldn't.
The sounds grew muffled again, like I was underwater. The hands touching me felt further and further away.
And as the stretcher slid into the ambulance, I used the last bit of strength I had left to whisper the only name in my heart.
"…Ethan…"
Then everything went black.