by Sofia Grey
We made a strange tableau. Jon and I crouched, sopping wet and muddy, Suki staring back at us, her eyes fixed on me.
“Josh, can you get me out? Please, tell me you can get me out of here.”
“We will, baby, I promise you.” I just wasn’t sure how.
18.10 Suki
God knows how, but there was light shining on and around the car. Josh’s face, in profile, looked terrified. I refused to look again at Gabe. “Stay calm, baby. Just stay with me, okay?” Josh’s voice reassured me even though the fear in his eyes told a different story.
I nodded, even that small movement sending new arrows of pain down my arm. “Josh,” I croaked, “I can’t open the door. Gabe locked them—and he’s—lying—on the release.” My words caught in my throat.
His eyes never left mine. In the ghostly light, he smiled, full of confidence and love. “You’re coming out through the windshield.”
“My seatbelt…it’s jammed.”
“I think he’s blocking it. I’m going to slide over the hood and in the car with you, and get you free. Then you’re going to climb out. Jon will help you. Are you hurt?”
He made it sound easy. Keeping my eyes averted from Gabe, from the wreck of the car, from the drop I knew lay feet away, I swallowed hard and nodded again. “My shoulder, I think I’ve broken something.”
Josh was already leaning on the hood, easing closer, an inch at a time. The car dipped under his weight, then rocked back. “Right or left shoulder?” His voice was cheery, normal.
“My right.” He still held my left hand, our fingers tightly entwined. A little reassuring squeeze.
The car dipped again as he reached the sad remains of the windshield. Using his elbow, he cleared a bigger hole, knocking out most of the glass, talking all the while. “I was thinking about us going on holiday somewhere—would you like that?” He edged closer, his head and shoulders now resting on the dashboard amidst the confetti of glass chips. “Somewhere exotic, I thought. Where d’you fancy?” His sleeve snagged on something. He glanced at it, frowning, then tugged to free himself, hissing in pain as his shirtsleeve ripped and his arm was scraped. Blood pooled along the length of his forearm, dripping down from his wrist.
“You’re bleeding, cowboy.”
“I don’t like to make a habit of it.” He released my fingers; I felt bereft. With the three of us, it was crowded in the car now. Josh burrowed underneath me, shoving at Gabe’s body, trying to find the catch for the seatbelt. “Got it,” he breathed. “When I press the button you’ll drop a few inches. Brace yourself, baby.”
I did. Even so, the pain rocketing through me caused black spots to dance before my eyes and I howled. Moments later, Josh had his arms around me, cushioning me and holding me close. I tried not to cry—there’d be time for tears later. “You okay there, Suki? It’s time to leave.”
He made it sound as though we were going to catch a train or something equally mundane. “Mmm.” Speaking hurt. Breathing hurt. Even blinking hurt for a few seconds as I readjusted my position, ready to climb out. Josh cupped his hands around my bum, lifting me, steering me through the gap to Jon, waiting on the outside.
“Take it slow.” He pushed me gently, mindful I was hurting. I used my good arm to reach out for Jon, my right arm dangling useless at my side.
“Hey, Suki.” I saw a flash of white teeth in the gloom. “You coming back to my car now?”
Josh shoved me up and sideways, propelling me through the window frame. The shockwave made me scream in pain as I bounced off the car and rolled into Jon’s waiting arms. Why had he done that? He knew I was injured. Pain overwhelmed me, sucking the light from my eyes, a merciful wave of darkness wrapping around me.
18.11 Josh
I felt the car tip again as I prepared to guide Suki out. There was no time to lose. I pushed hard, her cry of pain ripping through me. But at least she was out. Time seemed to stop for a moment.
“I’ve got her.” Jon’s shout was a blessed relief. He’d make sure she was safe. I didn’t move a muscle, didn’t even breathe, as I waited for the rocking of the car to settle. Suki was out. The car hadn’t tumbled down the cliff yet. I could do this. Exhaling, a long, slow breath, I twisted to look at Gabriel, squashed against the mangled door. Was he dead? He wasn’t moving. I fumbled for his wrist to check for a pulse, and then remembered you’re supposed to check the neck. Gods, I’ve never studied first aid. Whichever method, he was still breathing.
I stared at him. This was the sick and twisted bastard that had made Suki’s life a living hell. That had set out tonight to murder her in cold blood—and had killed another woman, if his mother was to be believed. I could leave him here. What was to stop me from climbing out, giving the car a push and watching it careen over the edge with him inside? Temptation didn’t even come close to how I felt.
Buuuut… somewhere, buried so deep inside me I hardly recognised it, was a glimmer of honesty. I would be no better than him. And I desperately wanted to be something better.
I glanced out of the open front. Jon was laying Suki on the ground, now turning round to come back to me. With a sigh of regret—this was going to suck, big time—I tried to free Gabriel from his seatbelt. As with Suki, every movement had to be slow and steady. The belt clasp released easily, but I needed to untangle him, work him free, ready to drag him out of the car.
“What do you want me to do?” Jon’s voice a calm, strong reassurance. As I considered how best to move him, Gabriel’s eyelids fluttered, opening to stare at me in the weak light.
He didn’t seem to recognise me. “My legs,” he rasped, “I can’t feel my legs.” My heart sank. This would make it even more difficult. I peered down, he didn’t look to be trapped by anything; the airbags had deployed and deflated okay. I cleared my throat.
“We’re going to drag you out through the window, but we have to move slowly, the car is in a dangerous position.”
In that instant, everything changed. I lifted my head to call out to Jon as Gabriel wrapped his hands around my throat. Pinned in the middle of the car, he rolled partly on top of me, pressing his hands into my windpipe. Valuable seconds ticked by as I tried to free myself.
“If I can’t have her, you’re not either.” His voice was just a croak.
His body weight trapped my arms, I felt a shaft of fear as I thrashed beneath him. I wasn’t giving up. I heard Jon shouting at me, a note of urgency in his voice. My vision started to blur as Gabriel’s fingers squeezed tighter. No way in hell was this going to happen. Why didn’t Jon see us? What was he shouting about?
My fingers scrabbled for purchase, stretching, extending, reaching for something—anything—to get this fuckwit off me. My brain screamed, lungs burning, throat caving in—I was on the verge of blacking out when I touched something that moved, I closed my fingers around something small and hard. Uncaring what I held, I smashed it into the side of his head.
The pressure released just long enough to drag in a wheezing, painful gasp of precious oxygen before it all changed again.
Gabriel fell back. The car rocked violently. It felt like a child’s see-saw tipping back and forth, the metal scraping against the rock.
And then, as I tried desperately to haul myself towards the window, the back end tipped one final time as we tumbled over the edge.
18.12 Suki
I heard Jon shouting and pushed myself up, unable to hold back a cry as a fresh wave of pain squeezed my upper body.
Gabe’s car had shifted, overbalanced its precarious position on the hillside and tumbled backwards. I watched, paralysed with fear as it tossed end over end, skipping down the ravine, bouncing against the cliff face.
In my daze, I didn’t realise what Jon was shouting—he was yelling for Josh. Oh, no. Please, God, no. Don’t say he was still in the car. Heedless of the pain, I staggered forwards on my knees, Jon scrambling through the undergrowth in front of me.
Please, God, let Josh be okay. I made deals in my head as I screamed his
name. I’d do anything to save him—sell my soul, anything.
Jon stood on a rock, deathly still, like an avenging angel in the thin strip of light. “Stay there, Suki.” I stopped. Every muscle strained to go and join him.
He didn’t want me to see. He wanted to shield me from seeing my lover—what was left of my lover. I bowed my head, utterly defeated. Because of my stupid decision, I’d gone with Gabe. He’d said Josh would pay the price.
A fresh tsunami of pain engulfed me. All I could do was hunch over and hold myself. My mind was closing down, one piece at a time. This was too big—too ugly—to comprehend. I couldn’t even cry. I just existed. I’d rather have died in the car with Gabe, than this.
18.13 Josh
My back smashed against the ground, jarring every bone in my spine and then some. I groaned as my head followed suit. Christ that would hurt in the morning. I lay there, sucking in one painful breath after another, waiting for my lungs to work properly again, relishing the sensations of rain on my face and wet earth in my hair. I was alive.
Jon hovered into view, blurred above me and then came back into focus. “Josh, buddy, you okay?”
“Uh-huh.” God, my throat hurt. I tried to cough, hurt some more. Shaking myself, I rolled over and pushed up to my knees, Jon helping me to stand, albeit a little wobbly. “Where’s Gabriel?” I could only whisper.
“He’s right here. Man, you were lucky.” I just shrugged; it was easier than trying to speak.
“The driver’s door flew open and you both fell out. Right before it crashed into the ravine. Gabe hit the rock hard and broke your fall.” Jon stared at me, his intense gaze raking me up and down. “Damn lucky. But Josh, why are you clutching a shoe?”
I followed his gaze. That’s what I’d cracked Gabriel round the head with—Suki’s shoe. She must have lost it in the accident. I remembered Gabriel again, lumbered forwards to where he lay face down. Jon crouched beside him, checking for a pulse more effectively than I’d done earlier. “He’s still with us.” I toyed with the idea of kicking him in the ribs… I didn’t have the energy. And I had something better to do. While Jon tended to Gabriel, I turned and scanned the hillside for Suki.
There she was, curled into a ball on the ground. My heart clenched. God, please don’t let her be seriously hurt. There was enough adrenalin still in my veins to help me cover the distance between us, collapsing on the ground beside her. “Suki,” I whispered, my voice non-existent, “Suki, baby, can you hear me?”
She didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure she could even hear me. I closed my hand around hers, laced our fingers together and she went very still. I gazed, agonized. Her head tilted, our eyes met. I saw disbelief reflected back at me. “Suki,” I whispered again.
“Josh?” She whimpered as she leaned her head against me. “Josh, Josh, oh Josh.” We lay on the wet mud, our lips finding each other. Nothing had ever tasted so good as Suki’s kisses at the moment. Jon needed to call the police. Suki needed medical attention. And I needed to hold her.
CHAPTER 19
19.1 Suki
By chance, I was dealing with an English doctor on duty in the Intensive Care Unit. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Bridgewater.” His tired eyes were sympathetic as he delivered the news. “It’s always difficult with head injuries and there has been bleeding in the brain. Until he wakes up—if he wakes up—we can’t say with any level of confidence what the prognosis will be.” I was amazed Gabe was still alive.
Jon’s arm tightened around me, a constant, calming presence at my side. Now that my dislocated shoulder had been—painfully—reset, my arm was secured in a sling to protect the torn muscles. Apart from this, and a whole slew of scratches and bruises, I was unhurt. Turning to Jon, I couldn’t avoid the sight of the paparazzi, waiting eagerly down the corridor. It was just like Paris all over again, a tight cluster of journalists jostling with their cameras, waiting for any snippet of news. “What am I going to do?” We moved along the corridor back to the relative quiet of the waiting room, moving out of earshot before he replied.
“My manager’s on his way, along with our PR agents and they’ll handle the press. But you need to figure out what you’re going to tell the police. It was an accident, but are you going to say he was trying to kill you? We’ve got the record of your conversation on Josh’s laptop. Just remember that whichever story you settle on, you have to stick to it. Anita and I will support you whatever you decide.”
“Thanks.” There was so much more I should say, but right now, I felt adrift and unable to concentrate. The police were also waiting to talk to us, and I couldn’t put them off much longer. “I wish I could talk to Josh.”
“You will, soon enough. We just have to wait.”
Josh also lay unconscious in another part of the hospital. Badly concussed, he’d ripped his arm open when he tried to pull me out of the car. The wound had been dirty and messy, and had required many stitches, and so far they hadn’t allowed me to see him. It was driving me crazy.
“I’ve had enough of this.” I stood up, every muscle protesting at the movement. “Let’s go and find him.” The nurse on duty did a double-take when she recognised me. She must have assumed I was there to see Gabe. I gave what little information I had about Josh, this time nominating myself as his next of kin. The nurse smiled. “Your brother?”
“No.” I stuck my chin out, as proud as I could manage in my tear-racked state. “He’s my fiancé.”
Standing next to me, Jon stared in amazement, while the nurse gaped. I gave Jon a shamefaced smile. “I just haven’t asked him yet,” I whispered. “And it could be a long engagement, since I have to get a divorce first. Do you think he’ll say yes?”
* * * *
The sight of him pale and lifeless on the bed made me want to double over and howl. He had to wake up. He had to. With the utmost care, I tangled our fingers together and drew the visitor chair as close to the bed as I could. Now that I was here, I wasn’t shifting. They’d have to carry me out before I’d move.
I talked to him over and over. “You’re going to be okay, cowboy, d’you hear me? I’m not letting you go again. And the minute you wake up, I’m going to tell you just how much I love you.”
Exhaustion finally caught up with me. Josh still lay unconscious, a powerful set of anti-biotics in an intravenous drip was hooked to his arm. I contemplated lying down next to him, but I knew I’d fall asleep, so I stayed upright in the chair. Even so, my eyelids drooped.
With my eyes half-closed, I listened to the sounds around us. A steady, soft bleeping from the equipment Josh had been hooked up to, muted voices in the corridor, random footsteps walking up and down and the regular breaths in and out from the man beside me. My lids closed a little further.
I felt a tugging on my fingers. Even though the chair was uncomfortable, I was still reluctant to move. Cracking open my eyes, I yawned as I remembered where I was. Josh—he was awake.
His cheeks held an unnatural flush and the hair fell lank across his forehead, but he had never looked more wonderful. I couldn’t hold back a smile. I leaned forwards and cupped his face with my free hand. “Hey, cowboy. Thanks for coming back.” Swallowing hard, a lump suddenly in my throat, I held his gaze. “You had me worried.”
His throat moved. I stared afresh at the chain of bruises Gabe had left. Squeezing my fingers, he whispered to me. “What happened?”
“You have a concussion and you ripped your arm open. You lost a lot of blood and it became infected.” I thought I was going to lose you. I couldn’t say any more, my mouth dried up and I stared helplessly at him. He gave me a crooked smile, raising my hand to his lips, pressing tiny kisses across my knuckles.
I gathered my courage—this was important and I wanted to get it right. “Josh, I need to ask you something.”
His beautiful eyes met mine. I saw resignation and worry. I don’t know what he expected me to say. I pulled at his hand, pressed it against my chest, and wrapped my free hand around it. He must have been able to f
eel how my heart was pounding. “I want to… Will you…” His eyebrows rose. Opening his mouth to try and speak, I carried on, not letting him interrupt. “I love you, Josh. You are everything that’s good in my world. I can’t imagine a future without you in it. I’ll give up work, do whatever it takes, but please… marry me.”
His mouth hung open, eyes wide. Silence fell between us. My tongue felt thick and useless, I couldn’t have said anything else. Oh God, I was wrong. I’d screwed up here so badly. I sucked in a breath, my lungs parched of air.
A slow smile crept across his face. I still couldn’t speak—I guess that made two of us. Breathing deeply, he pulled me close, inching me towards him. “That was supposed to be my line.” His whisper was like a caress. Our lips met, soft and gentle. I fought back the hysterical laughter that threatened.
“I asked first, cowboy.”
His smile exploded into a dazzling grin. He freed his hands, ran them through my hair and then took my left hand, turning it palm up. With his index finger, he slowly wrote YES across my palm, sealed it with a kiss and delicately folded my fingers one at a time over the top, sealing my heart at the same time. He was mine. And this time I wasn’t letting him go.
19.6 Josh
Suki had told the police she’d been arguing with Gabriel and that’s what led to him driving off the road. She maintained that with the severity of his injuries, if he ever recovered consciousness, he would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, and almost certainly brain damaged. She felt that would be punishment enough for him. She was, however, vocal about his tricks in Paris and then announced their separation, due to irreconcilable differences.