by MF Isaacs
I wasn’t disappointed in my decision when Curtis greeted me with a full-on body hug that was on the verge of being inappropriate. He pulled back from the hug only far enough to rest his forehead against mine. For a minute, we just stood there; neither of us saying anything, just being together. I’m sure to bystanders, it appeared we were reuniting after being apart for days or weeks, not just hours. With a gentle kiss on my lips, he pulled back and turned me towards our waiting table.
Sierra was the first to spill the beans on my spending. I could feel all eyes on me, I’d never felt more exposed than I did in that moment. My cheeks had to be red because I could feel the heat burning. When I finally had enough courage to look at Curtis I was prepared for him to reprimand me for spending money, instead he was beaming like he was proud of me. I was confused as all hell; I was used to my mom who hid shopping bags from my dad and my sister who hid new stuff in the kid’s room. I wasn’t prepared for Curtis to be happy with me shopping.
Curtis put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his body, I went willingly. He kissed the side of my head before he whispered for only me to hear, “You’re so fucking cute. I can’t wait to see everything you picked out.” The waitress was ready to take our order before I could even respond to him.
CURTIS
I missed her all day. It took effort I didn’t know I had to stop myself from calling or texting her throughout the day. I went for a long run in the bitter cold, even that did nothing to calm the compulsive need I felt to contact her. The second she was within my sights, the craziness I’d felt all day calmed. It couldn’t be possible that she was the key to calming my inner voice, but so far that is exactly what she’s done.
I participated in conversation as we enjoyed dinner, but the truth is, I wanted nothing more than to drag her out of the restaurant so I could have all her attention for myself. I loved the idea that she enjoyed time with my sister, Hannah, and Amy, but I wanted her to enjoy me more. As conversation went on around me, I thought of all the different ways I could have her all to myself. Ultimately, I decided I was on the verge of being a twisted mother fucker that needed to chill the fuck out.
I’ve learned over the last several months not to argue with Luke when it comes to paying the dinner bill. I am certain he has figured it out, if not been told directly, that Steve, Sierra, and I have money but it doesn’t appear to matter to him. I love that he and Amy treat us as if we’re their own children. I understand them treating Steve and Sierra that way, considering they are both married to their kids; but they treated me just the same. Luke pays the bill and we all head toward the parking lot. I’m back to pulling Natalie along behind me, thank fuck she’s able to keep up with me.
I am desperate to get her alone, and despite her wanting to get all her stuff from Amy’s car, she doesn’t resist me when I lead her to the truck I finally picked up from the dealership today. I waited as she climbed in and buckled before I jumped in behind the wheel. I felt better in the truck than I did in the SUV, I just don’t fit with the fancy ass shit. I only bought it because I wanted her. For the most part, it worked so in my eyes it was worth every penny.
I turned toward the McMann house right behind the rest of the gang, lost in thought as I plan the rest of the night in my head. Follow everyone to the house; get her shopping bags; have her drive the SUV to her apartment; I’ll follow in the truck and then finally have her all to myself where I can ravish her. As soon as my thoughts turn to the specific way I plan to ravish her, I realize I am hardly watching the tail lights ahead of me.
NATALIE
I can feel the need vibrating off him as we drive in silence. Feeling the energy of his desire is powerful and it’s the first time I have ever experienced anything like it. I am imagining the events that will take place the rest of the evening and, even without knowing the specifics, I can feel myself growing wet. He has yet to disappoint me sexually. I guess it is just a testament to his experience. Oh who am I kidding, I probably have just as much experience as he does.
I can see the taillights ahead of us but out of nowhere, I am caught off guard by the brightness of headlights which are coming toward my side of the truck. Everything happens so fast, I don’t have time to react properly. I keep my eyes on the taillights for as long as possible because the alternative is acknowledging the bright headlights. On instinct, my left arm shoots out in an effort to hold Curtis back as impact hits. The sound is secondary to the impact; we’re spinning before I even register the sound of the crunch. After feeling the impact and hearing the crunch of metal on metal, I feel the pain and cry out for Curtis with every fiber of my being.
A second impact hits and forces the truck to stop the spinning with a bone crunching jolt. My body hurts, my heart is racing, and I can’t hear anything. I blink several times trying to clear my head so I can figure out what to do. I can feel the cold outside temperature, I can feel pain in my right leg, it hurts to breathe, I can feel liquid running down my face but I can’t tell if it was blood or tears. I sit still, afraid to move because my mind still isn’t clear. I catch sight of movement off to my left and slowly turned my head because I still can’t hear anything. Curtis is sitting beside me and, despite the pain I am currently feeling, I am overcome with how handsome he is. I can see his lips moving but I have no clue what he was saying. I can feel his large hand gently caress my face, I assume he is using his thumb to wipe the tears off my cheek.
I know he can see, or maybe even feel my fear, just by looking in my eyes. His warm hand stays in place on the side of my face. I blink rapidly because the tears are blurring my vision. I close my eyes because I am completely overcome with emotions. I feel his lips on the opposite side of my face as his hands, I can feel the movement of his lips but still can’t hear. I try to reach out to him with my right hand but the movement shoots pain up the side of my body and I cry out.
My mind is working well enough to catalog in my mind where I am injured, I don’t know if my voice works, since it hurts to breathe I am afraid to try talking. But, before panic sets in completely, I take several shallow breaths and talk through the pain, “I think my right leg is broken, it hurts to breathe, my head hurts.” I stop to catch my breath before I can continue, “Is my face is bleeding? Curtis, I am cold, so cold. I am scared. I want to close my eyes because everything keeps getting blurry, but when I close my eyes I can’t see you. Hurts so bad. Need help. Please don’t leave me. Please” I realize I can move my left arm without pain and I grip whatever I can on him, “don’t leave me.”
I feel his lips as they kiss my face over and over. He pulls back from the kisses and my eyes focus on his lips as they move. I watch them move until I hear two things at the same time, his words of love and the sound of sirens. I don’t know how they knew to come because I still haven’t been able to figure out exactly what happened or where we came to a stop. But the sound of him saying “I love you Natalie. I will never leave you.” Combined with the knowledge that help is coming is more than I can handle.
CURTIS
She’s hurt and bleeding. The flashbacks I’ve had in the last two minutes are enough to send a weaker man to his grave. I have lost so much in my life, the last thing I would be able to handle is losing her. I haven’t moved my hand from the side of her face where she’s bleeding. I am close enough to her physically to know that she is breathing and I pray to my sister, parents, and grandparents that she will be okay.
I haven’t even tried to open my door; I know the initial hit came on her side of the truck and I think the second hit was also on that side. Since we came to a stop, my sole focus has been on her. If I have any injuries, I don’t know what they are. I know I am experiencing shock but it isn’t stopping me from feeling the overwhelming fear that I will lose Natalie.
I can see the flashing lights, they are reflecting around us. I can hear voices as they come closer to us. I call out for help hoping they can hurry. “Help! She needs an ambulance. She’s just passed out. She’s bleeding. I’v
e got my hand held over where she’s bleeding. She’s shivering.”
“Hang in there man, I’m Bryant and we’ll have you both out in just a minute. Can you tell me your name?” His voice carries through the open windows, but I couldn’t see where he was.
“I’m Curtis and my girlfriend Natalie. I don’t think there is any damage to the driver’s side. If you can get to it, I will take my hand away from her face and unlock the doors.” There is no immediate response and that freaks me the fuck out. I suddenly don’t feel relief that help is here. I know my voice is a clear indication to anyone who might be listening that I am in full panic mode. “Help us. Please. I can’t lose her. Just get us out. She needs to go to the hospital. Please!”
Thank fuck Bryant responded, “Curtis man, you need to take a breath. We’re going to get you guys out, we are just checking to see what is the best way to do that. Keep talking to me, my partners are getting a stretcher and we’ve got some other people on their way. Can you tell me anything about the accident?”
“Um. Yeah. We were following my family. Oh shit. Man, call my brother. He knows something is wrong. Please call…fuck what’s his number?” I know his number but can’t for the life of me tell him.
“What’s his name? What’s your last name?” I can feel the fear that I know Steve and Sierra are experiencing at this point.
“Morrison. My brother is Steve. Steve Morrison. Or even call the McMann’s. Sierra my sister.” The panic is overtaking my ability to talk.
“Calvin McMann? He’s a friend, can I call him?” I can’t even answer fully, I just cry out in panic trying to confirm and for a minute I can hear his half of the conversation as he tells Cal that Natalie and I have been in an accident. When he hangs up, I can hear additional voices but still can’t see where they are. “Hey Curtis, can you hear me? Your family is on their way. I’ll let you know as soon as they are here. Hopefully we’ll have you and Natalie out of their before they even arrive, but I need you to stay as calm as you can okay? Can you tell me more about the accident?”
“We need out. Steve and Sierra need to be able to see me when they get here. Please. Why can’t you get us out?” It is taking every ounce of will I have to keep myself from fully freaking the fuck out. Even still, I wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
“We’re working to get you out as quickly as possible. I think by the time you’re done telling me about the accident, we’ll have you out. We are working as quickly as we can, okay? I will let Steve and Sierra know you’re okay. They will be waiting right by the ambulance for you and Natalie. Okay?” Panic or not, I am smart enough to figure out he’s not telling me for a fucking reason.
I take three deep in and out breaths, tilt my head to the sky, and pray that whatever it is, is fixable. “I don’t know what happened. One minute we’re following the family back to the McMann’s house and the next thing I know bright lights are shining in from the passenger side. The impact sent us spinning. Second impact hit and stopped us. We rocked to a stop and I turned my attention to Natalie. I could see she was bleeding and could hear her crying. She told me her leg hurt and it was hard for her to breathe. Said she thinks her leg is broke, she tried to move her right arm and cried out in pain. She passed out as soon as I heard the sirens.”
“Real good Curtis. You are doing real good. I want you to keep your hand on where Natalie is bleeding, okay? Are you still wearing your seatbelt? What about Natalie?” I could still hear him but there was a loud diesel type engine now that was drowned out his voice.
I yelled in hope that he could hear me, “Yes.” The engine cut off and suddenly it was silent. I repeated my answer, “Yes we both have our belts still on.”
“Okay Curtis, I’m going to explain what’s happening. We are working real hard to get you both out of there as quickly as we can. The truck came to a stop against an old oak tree right behind Natalie’s door. Where the truck is currently sitting, we have no access to getting you out that way. The driver’s side is currently sitting on the very edge of the bank leading down to the lake. We plan to hook the back end and pull you away from the edge so we can safely get you out. There is a small chance you will fall forward before we can pull you back far enough. That is why I wanted to make sure you are both still buckled. We have two hooks, that will pull at the same time. Okay?”
“Okay. Just hurry.” There was a long pause before I felt the small movement at the rear end of the truck. It was scary, but I knew it was what needed to be done.
“Curtis, it’s all hooked up. We’re going to start pulling. We’ll have you both out in just a minute. Hang tight man, you are doing great.” I didn’t feel like I was doing great, I felt like I was falling apart.
I had no control over the tears as the flowed freely down my face. I leaned over and whispered words for only Natalie to hear. “I love you more than anything. Please don’t leave me. As soon as this is over we’re getting married. We’re having babies. Lots of babies. No condoms ever again.”
Her eyes opened at my words, she blinked several times then answered me, “Yes I’ll marry you. And no condoms. But just us okay?” Her words hit at the same time the truck jolted in backwards movement. We didn’t dip over the edge like they feared, but the movement did jar Natalie and she cried out in pain.
“Just us Hot Stuff, just you and me. Forever.” If I weren’t worried about her injuries I would have kissed her with all the love I have. I would have kissed her to calm the fears that pulsed through me. Instead of doing those things I tell her again, “I love you Natalie. As soon as this is over, marriage and babies.”
There was a flurry of activity to get us both out of the truck. The driver’s side was undamaged so the door opened, but getting Natalie over the console was hard due to her injuries. They made me remove my hand from her bleeding face so I could get out of their way. I was forced to sit on a nearby stretcher but I refused to let them move me toward the ambulance until Natalie was out of the truck as well. We were forced to ride in separate ambulances. Bryant wasn’t kidding when he said that Steve and Sierra would be waiting by the ambulances for us. Sierra kissed me and said she and Cal would meet us at the hospital. Steve refused to leave my side and climbed into the passenger seat for the ride. He informed me that Amy was riding with Natalie.
Once at the hospital, I was quickly released because there wasn’t anything wrong with me. The hospital staff tried to keep me from being by Natalie, but when she confirmed that I was her fiancée, they allowed me to be with her as she went through round after round of testing. A half dozen X-ray’s confirmed that her leg was broken as were several ribs. Thankfully, her arm was not. The cut on the side of her face was stitched very carefully with the hope that the scar would be minimal. I could care less about a scar, but if it bothered her, I’d pay for plastic surgery. After several hours, she was cleared from the emergency room but only to be admitted into a normal hospital room for overnight observation.
Once settled in the room, everyone visited briefly since it was well past visiting hours. The hospital had given me scrubs so Amy took my blood-stained clothes with her and agreed to bring me clean clothes in the morning. Sierra and Hannah made plans to come with Amy in the morning while Luke and Calvin made plans to cover Natalie’s work shifts. After they left, I realized we hadn’t contacted Natalie’s family. But when I asked her if I could call them, she reassured me that we could call them in the morning. She said there wasn’t anything they could do and they were all asleep now anyway.
I moved the plastic recliner as close to her bed as I possible could, I reclined and turned my body to face her. I didn’t take my eyes off her for as long as I possibly could. Eventually I fell asleep, but only to see her in my dreams. In my dream, I was losing her, she was standing there in the distance visibly broken. I jolted awake from the dream just to make sure she was still there.
NATALIE
I woke up when the nurse came in to take my vitals. She was young and visibly pregnant; I couldn’t help but
think about the conversation we had in the truck right before they pulled us to safety. Since I was awake, she asked me the standard questions and confirmed that everything I was experiencing was normal given what I’d been through.
As soon as she walked out of the room, Curtis jolted awake from his recliner alongside my bed. His eyes instantly connect with mine. I can’t help the tears that form at the sight of him looking at me with concern and love. It takes him a minute to get out of the chair. When he does, he’s gently brushing the hair from my face and kissing the uninjured side.
Once we’re both fully awake, I agreed to call my family and let them know what happened. I started with my mom, she shocked me when she said she would be here as soon as possible. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wasn’t listening. She told me to call my dad next because she was calling my sister.
My dad was out of town for work, but told me he was incredibly thankful that I was okay. He was scheduled to be out of town for three more days but would come see me as soon as he flew back into town. No sooner did I hang up with him, did my sister call. She wanted to hear all the details from me. With her in-laws still in town to watch the kids, she was coming to see me with Mom. I understood that to mean ‘Don’t argue she needed to get away from them and this was a perfect excuse’.