"I will call you Ana."
"Yay! Finally!" I said happily throwing my hands in the air.
"Not in front of Mr. Coleman though. It will be our little secret. Deal?" He smiled and winked at me.
"Deal." I smiled while buckling my seatbelt.
We listened to Taylor Swift and about an hour into the drive, I'm pretty sure Paul hates me now from blasting her music. Sorry Paul, that's my girl. We had about another 45 minutes to go.
"Do you know what Travis has planned this weekend?" I looked over and asked him.
He looked over at me, "I'm not sure- ANA WATCH
OUT!"
Before I knew it, I felt a sharp pain and everything went black.
Chapter 28
Paul POV
I blacked out for a few seconds and as I awoke, I saw a white car drive off fast. My head was pounding and I had glass shattered all over me with blood on it.
Everything was blurry.
"ANA!" I yelled while reaching over to only find the seat empty. I let my eyes adjust and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "Oh my god. Somebody help! HELP! Ana!" I yelled. I tried my hardest to undo my seatbelt but the click was bent from the impact and it wouldn't budge. "HELP!"
I saw her. I saw her lifeless. The seatbelt broke from the impact and the shattered glass had her blood on it. We were hit on her side and when the car hit us, her body flew from the seat before I could stop her. My windshield was broken. She broke my windshield… I was looking at Ana, lifeless on the hood of the car. Her face was full of blood and her hair wasn’t light anymore, it was red. I couldn’t even recognize her. I was crying for help and screaming for anybody to hear me.
I heard sirens in the distance, getting closer and closer.
"Sir, we're going to get you out." A firefighter said to me.
"No! I'm fine please get her first! Go help her!" I couldn't help but cry at the sight of her. This is something I never wanted to go through… something I never wanted to see.
I saw a swarm of firefighters go get her while a few were trying to get me out of the car.
"Don't touch me! Go get her!" I yelled trying to push them away.
"Sir, what's your name?"
"Paul."
"Okay Paul. We have a lot of our guys helping her. Now it's our job to help you. He pointed to himself and two other firefighters.
They had a stretcher ready and they cut off my seatbelt and easily pulled me out. They secured my body and I tried to find Ana.
"Where is Anastasia?!" I yelled trying to lift my head but they secured it down.
"We have to get you to the hospital." They ignored me and put me on the bed and into the ambulance.
Third-person POV
As one of the ambulances drove off with Paul in the back, there were a whole group of firefighters and EMT's helping Anastasia. Once they finally took her off the car and rolled her onto a stretcher, there was glass on her whole body and her hair. Blood was everywhere.
"We're losing her!" One of them yelled as they put her stretcher down on the bed. One of them jumped on the bed and straddled her, starting CPR. There was another one who was intubating her.
"Hurry! We need to get her to the hospital!" Another yelled as all 7 firefighters and EMT's piled into the ambulance.
They shut the doors and they were off.
The guy that was on her bed jumped off but continued CPR. Another, got the defibrillator ready. They cut her shirt open and put the paddles over her chest. "Give her one round of Epi and charge to 200... And CLEAR." He yelled so everyone took their hands off of her.
"V-fib. Nothing." Another man said while he started to pump her chest again and another still squeezed the bag near her mouth to give her oxygen.
"Charge to 300... And CLEAR!"
"Nothing."
"Charge to 360… And CLEAR! Come on, Anastasia." The man said as they continued CPR.
"Another round of Epi. We aren't losing her boys.
Charge to 360 again... And CLEAR!"
They all took a deep breath when her blood pressure went up and she was at sinus rhythm.
"Good job everyone." One of the guys said.
They all started working on taking the glass out and securing her head from moving.
After arriving at the hospital, they took her in the trauma room to do whatever they needed to do to save her.
Paul POV
"I am fine. Is she okay? Let me know that she's okay!
Travis oh my god I have to call Travis. I need a phone."
"Come down, sir. You need to relax. You have a serious concussion and yelling is not going to help." A nurse said after she gave me some meds.
I was sitting up in a bed, in a normal room, completely fine. Why is she not okay? What have I done?
"Please I need a phone." I desperately told her.
"Alright, here is the phone and you can call whoever you need to." She smiled while handing me the phone.
"Thank you." I didn't care about me right now. I am fine. I'll call my wife later. I need to call Travis right now. I dialed his number quickly and he answered on the first ring.
"Paul! I've called you and Anastasia a few times! Why haven't you answered? I have been so worried." I heard him blurt out as fast as he could.
"Travis..." I said quietly with tears in my eyes.
"I have been so worried! You should have been he-" I cut him off. "Travis..." I said nervously. "It’s
Anastasia."
Travis POV
He cut me off.
"Travis... It’s Anastasia." My heart dropped.
"What happened?! Paul what happened where are you guys?!" I yelled grabbing my keys to whichever car. I didn't care.
"UCSF… it is bad Travis and they aren't telling me anything." Paul said softly.
"I'm coming." I was wearing basketball shorts and no shirt but I didn't care. I got in the car and sped off as fast as I could. I needed to call her mom. Anastasia gave me her number in case of emergencies... like this.
I couldn't help but cry. I didn't know what I was going to walk into. I was driving as fast as I could with cars in a blur.
The phone kept ringing and I got her voicemail. She doesn't know my number. I called her again and she answered.
"Miss Reilly!" I yelled through the phone.
"Who is this?" She asked politely.
"It's Travis. I know I haven't met you yet but Anastasia gave me your number in case of emergencies!"
"Oh my god... Travis what happened?" Her voice cracked and I heard shuffling around and a door slam shut.
"I don't know I don't know. My driver called me and said it was bad and they are at my hospital. I'm giving you the address and you need to be there. It's the UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco. Hurry. I will call you I don't know what happening but its bad." "I'm coming." She said crying. I hung up.
I dialed another number.
"Uncle… are you at the hospital?!" I yelled over the phone.
"Yes son, I'm doing some paperwork. What's wrong?" I heard him get up and throw the papers on the desk.
"Anastasia… trauma." Was all I could get out. "10 min."
"I'm going now." He said, then hung up.
Chapter 29
Andrew Coleman POV (Travis's uncle)
I rushed out of my office having people try to stop me on the way down.
"Put it in my mailbox outside the office. I need to be downstairs right now. Cancel my meetings." I told my secretary.
"Yes sir." I heard her before I started running downstairs and towards the ER.
I was flying by doctors, nurses, patients, family. Right now at this point, I didn't care. By Travis's voice, I knew something was wrong. Travis doesn't care about a lot of things and he's a tough man but when it comes to her…
"Mr. Coleman, we can't let you in there." A nurse said while pushing me back as I was about to walk into the trauma room.
"Let me in." I demanded. I was a lot taller than her so I put my arm above her and pus
hed the door open.
"CLEAR!" A doctor yelled.
I looked at Anastasia and she was pale with blood everywhere. They were getting a transfusion ready.
"Nothing." The other doctor yelled.
"CLEAR!"
I couldn't get passed her and another nurse stepped in front of her.
"Sir we can't let you go in there. You know the rules." He told me while pulling the door shut.
I sighed in defeat and leaned against the wall.
"Damnit!" I yelled.
Travis POV
"Damnit!" I heard a man yell. It sounded like my uncle. As I round the corner, I see the trauma room along with my uncle next to the doors.
"What's happening?!" I yelled running towards the doors.
My uncle grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away but I was stronger and I got out of his grip. I grabbed the male nurse’s arm and pulled him forward so I can get in the room.
I pushed open the doors and heard,
"How long has she been down?" A doctor said.
"We lost her twice here and once on the way here but it's been 18 minutes Sir." A nurse told him.
"We lost her." Another doctor said as they all stopped what they were doing. I heard the flat line.
"Time of d-"
"NO!" I yelled before they said it. "Try again!" I yelled.
They all turned their heads towards me.
"Mr. Coleman, we lost her." One of the doctors sympathetically told me.
"Try again!" I yelled louder to them.
"Mr. Coleman we-"
"I AM THE DAMN OWNER OF THIS HOSPITAL AND I SAID TRY AGAIN!" I yelled as loud as I could while my uncle grabbed my arm again but I just got out of his grip and ran towards the bed. I grabbed her hand and she was cold. "Come on baby warm up. Breathe baby come on. Warm her up and try again!"
I grabbed her face and planted a kiss on her ice cold lips. Everything was in slow motion. This didn't seem real.
"Please come back to me please. Please…" I cried. "Please don't leave me." I cried kissing her forehead and backing away.
"Once more Mr. Coleman." A doctor said as they were getting the paddles ready. "Give her two rounds of Epi.
3…2…1… CLEAR!"
"Come on Anastasia!" I yelled. Just a moment later, the machine beeped.
"We got her! We got her! She's weak and it's slow but we got her." The same doctor yelled.
I ran up to her and bent down. She was still cold.
"Anastasia… wake up. Please wake up. Come on baby, please wake up, okay? I’ll warm you up, come on. I need those green eyes come on baby please wake up, wake up for me." I cried and hugged her.
"Okay Mr. Coleman. Please leave the room so we can clean her wounds and give her a blood transfusion. We need to do what we need to do and get her ready and transport her to the ICU."
I just nodded while giving her a kiss on her cold forehead and backing away. My uncle pulled me out of the room and looked at me. I just broke down. My hands balled into fists and before I knew it, I slammed my fist against the wall.
"Fuck!" I yelled as I just cried for her.
"Travis! What the hell do you think you're doing?" My uncle walked up to me, grabbing my hand and observing it. "Let's go get this x-rayed and wrapped." My hand was already bruised.
"I'm not leaving her!" I yelled.
"Travis. Calm down. She is alive." He put his arms around me and hugged me. I just let go in his arms and sobbed. We stayed like that for I don't even know how long.
"Anastasia Reilly!" I heard a woman yell over the desk.
My head popped up at the sound of her name.
"Miss. Reilly?" I nodded while tears still rolled down my cheeks.
"Travis? I know it's you from her pictures. Please, please tell me she's okay? Is she okay? She's alive? What happened?" She cried as I pulled her into my chest. I know we just met but we were both hurt by the same thing and that brought us close together.
"I don't know the whole story yet. I still have to go talk to my driver but she… they…" I couldn't find the right words. As we pulled apart, my uncle spoke.
"Miss. Reilly, she's been revived three times." He said sympathetically.
"Oh god…" she almost fell and I had to catch her. ”Travis?" I took her to sit on a chair and I sat next to her while my uncle stayed near the doors.
"She's stable now. They got her. She isn't awake and we don't know anything yet but she's stable." I smiled through tears and so did she.
"What do we do now?" She cried.
"I'm going to have my uncle sit with you so I can talk to my driver about what exactly happened. Is that okay?" I placed my hand on her back.
"Yes please." She told me as I got up and nodded to her.
I looked at my uncle and he went to sit down near her.
"Page me?" I asked him.
"I will." He nodded. "The nurse’s station will give you a nurse scrub shirt Travis."
I walked up to the nurse’s station to grab a shirt and ask to see Paul.
"I'm looking for Paul Matthews." I told the nurse as she looked on her computer.
"2483 Mr. Coleman." She said.
As I finally made my way upstairs, I searched for the room.
2479… 2480… 2481… 2482… 2483.
I knocked.
"Come in." I heard Paul say.
As I walked in, his eyes went wide and he sat up quickly.
"How are you?" I asked him while sitting on a chair near his bed.
"Don't worry about me. How is she? Please tell me she's okay Mr. Coleman."
"Call me Travis please" I told him. "She's finally stable. They had to bring her back three times but she's stable now. We don't know anything else yet."
"Travis…"
"What happened?" I looked at him while leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees.
"That's just it. I don't know. One minute everything was good. We were driving smoothly, then out of nowhere a car was speeding so fast that I had no chance of getting away from." He explained clearly confused.
"Did you see the car?" I asked him.
"It was just a white car. That's all I could make out. It was just driving so fast." He said shaking his head.
"Have you talked to the police?"
"Yes. They left about 20 minutes ago. They took down my statement and they were going to talk to the doctors about Anastasia."
"Did you call your family?" I asked him while getting up.
"Yes. My wife is on her way here now."
"Okay. I'm going to go and check on Anastasia. I have my phone on me so call me if you need me and I'll come check on you later." I gave him a hug and started walking out.
"Travis." I turned around and nodded. "She's an amazing girl you know. She's strong and she'll make it through this."
"I hope so." I smiled sadly and walked out of the room.
I went downstairs to find my uncle and Miss Reilly talking to police.
"Miss Reilly, anything yet on how she is?" I asked her.
"Please call me Elena, Travis and no unfortunately not yet." She said sadly to me while turning her attention back to the cops.
"Mr. Coleman, do you know anyone that has a grudge against you or Anastasia?" One out of the three cops asked.
"Uh… no I don't. I don't believe so." I told them confused. "Why?"
"This was done intentionally." He said to me.
"Intentionally? Who? Paul said he saw a white car. Does that mean anything? Do you guys honestly think this was done intentionally?" I asked them while crossing my arms.
"No Mr. Coleman. We don't think this was done intentionally. We know it was done intentionally."
"Who would have done this?" I looked towards Elena and my uncle.
"That's what we need to find out. If you have any questions or if your driver remembers anything, please call." They said while shaking our hands and then walking out the doors.
"Who the hell would have done this?! I will kill them." I said through g
ritted teeth.
"Travis stop. Elena is here and we can't do this right now. You need to go and get your hand wrapped up and I will call your brothers and mother to let them know what's going on." My uncle told me while putting his hand on Elena's back, nodding and walking away with his phone in his hand.
"I will wait here Travis. You go get yourself all better and I will meet you right here. If I see or hear anything, I will call you and I'm going to call Emma too." She nodded.
"I will just be upstairs. I'll be down as soon as I get this wrapped up." I started to walk away but looked back,
"Elena?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
"I heard a lot about you Travis. Please don't be sorry. I know my daughter is happy and in great hands with you.
So if anything, I should be thanking you."
I gave her a small smile and turned back around and walked towards the stairs. As soon as the doors shut to the staircase, I knew I was alone and I couldn't help but let the tears fall freely and endlessly. I can't lose her… if I lost her… if I lost her… I would never be happy again. I've lost so many people in my life but her… god I can't lose her. My whole world would be gone. Shattered. Into broken little pieces that could never be put back together. I've never been so scared in my life. If I lost her… I wouldn't be able to live. If I lose her, I lose everything.
My back hit the wall and I slid down and sat on the floor with my hand covering my mouth to try and suppress the sobs that kept coming out. I just couldn't stop.
Chapter 30
Elena Reilly POV
After what felt like forever…
"Miss Reilly?"
"Yes?" I asked while standing up and rushing to the doctor.
"We are taking her to the ICU now. She has a lot of cuts and bruises. We also stitched up some gashes from the impact of the windshield." I cringed. "She has a broken arm and 6 broken ribs along with a punctured lung. Her skull is bruised so we wrapped it up with some padding. We have her on a respirator right now to help her breathe. She is stable right now but she is in a coma and as of right now, we aren't sure if there's brain damage." He told me sincerely.
Eyes For You (Chasing Tomorrow Book 1) Page 15