Page 70 of Love Bound

And then, the steering wheel spun and jerked, and I lost control of the car. I went over, rolling twice. Old airbags deployed, no side bag though, thus the cuts on my legs and my throbbing hand.

The memory of tumbling, of the sounds of metal being torn and ripped, is so fresh I can taste blood. Oddly, I have no memory of the sound of glass breaking and yet I was sitting in a pile of it when they found me.

All I could think of as blood dripped down my face was: cell phone, back pocket. Call nine-one-one. Call nine-one-one before you pass out.

Finn comes back and hands me my phone. I must have set it down on the bumper of the ambulance.

"Well?" I say, trying to smile, but my upper lip is swollen, lumpy, and asymmetrical. "Totaled, right?" I look up at him.

His face is drained of blood and he hugs me swiftly, pressing my head to his chest. His heart thuds hard in my ear.

Officer Trent's voice comes up behind Finn and I pull away for a moment. "If you have anything to add to what you've told us, please call the station. I'll be around tomorrow to go over your formal statement." Trent pauses. "I'm probably going to have to hand this off to a detective, Claire. This is a crime scene. Running people off the road is a felony."

My stomach churns. But if I throw up, Jade and her silver-haired partner are going to want to take me in.

I reach for Finn, my good arm all wobbly. He takes it tenderly and strokes my hand then raises it to his lips for a quick kiss. But his face is still impassive. Big, hot, ugly tears are starting and I hold my breath, anything to stop them. I hate being needy and I'm all needy and every part of my body hurts. At least I don’t appear to have a concussion and I am cleared to go.

There's a rush of discussion, last-minute instructions, details, and then Finn's carrying me to the truck. My head is against his chest, my bandaged hand in my lap, and one hard, tiny sob, erupts between my swollen lips.

"Hey, I'm here. You're safe now," he says, gently setting me in the passenger side of his truck.

I see the shred of the paper bag that once held the stone for Allison and Kenny and I suck in some air and hold my breath again.

He starts the car, and pulls out on to the road, his ashen face grim in profile.

I close my eyes and all I see is bent metal. The railing. The hood of my car crumpling like aluminum foil. The blood on my clothes, a reminder of the gash on my scalp.

Within five minutes, I'm crying. Big, hot, ugly tears.

Finn pulls over in a flash and wraps his arms around me, all of me. Every inch of me feels him, and I hurt inside and out. I hurt for him, for Allison and their baby, for me, and then he kisses me gently. And I don't want him to because I feel so sticky and gross with blood. But he keeps murmuring in my hair and I catch fragments of what he's saying.

"Never again…"

"I am never leaving you…"

"You're right here…"

"I've got you…"

My crying seems to be controlled by some other part of my brain, but the sobs slow.

Finn quickly pulls off his T-shirt, leaving him in a white tank undershirt. He wipes my face with the shirt and I blow my nose. Once he starts the truck up again, I lean against his bare shoulder, feeling vulnerable and fragile and way out of my element.

I can’t trust myself.

What is going on? Why is it a crime scene?

The rest of the ride takes twenty minutes and is over in a flash, with me looking out the front windshield, my head too heavy to lift.

Finn is so quiet it's eerie. There's something almost deadly about his demeanor. Like he's mentally preparing for some mission.

When he rolls into the clinic parking lot, I start to sit up straight, but a wave of nausea overwhelms me and I swallow hard and look at him. My eyes water.

"Don’t move," he says, slamming the door shut, propping open the clinic door and then returning to fetch me.

That's how it feels. To be fetched.

He picks me up like I weigh nothing, and I drape an arm over his neck. He leaves the bloodied blanket on the floor of the truck and I watch, numb but aware of how he effortlessly carries me up the stairs. I can feel his biceps and forearms against my back and knees.