Twenty minutes from his place, the weather changed. The temperature dropped, and she immediately noticed because she had her driver-side window down to enjoy the fresh air. Clouds rolled over the hills from out of nowhere, and the rain began to fall slightly. Abby was not worried. She had a short drive left, and it was just rain, so she lowered her speed and kept going.
She came around a bend in the highway and felt the wheels skid slightly. Her SUV recovered quickly, so she reduced her speed once more and carried on. It happened again, and Abby got the car under control, but by now, she was sure it had to be black ice. The roads looked no different from when it was wet. She lowered her car window again and stuck her hand out. It was mostly rain falling, but there were tiny ice pellets mixed in with the rain.
Crap. Leave it to me to try going back to Andrew’s place on a day when crazy weather hits again.
She reduced her speed further, and as she pressed the button to close the window, the SUV lost all traction. She tried to counter-steer, but it was no use. The only thing she had going for her was her speed was down to under twenty miles per hour. Evidently, that was not slow enough, and Abby had no time to brace herself for the worst as the SUV skidded along the slick surface, crashed through a guard rail, rolled down a moderate slope, and came to rest against the branches of three medium-sized pine trees. The impact activated the driver-side air bags, but to Abby, she felt her head slam against something hard on the steering wheel. Before she blacked out, Abby noticed that beyond those trees was a sheer drop of possibly fifty feet, and an image of Andrew flashed through her mind.
Chapter Fifteen
ANDREW had made such a mess of things, he could not blame Abby for telling him to leave last night. He had his chances, and now he had to take responsibility for all of it.
I fucked up big time.
After Abby kicked him out last night, he headed straight for the airport, flew home and went to bed. The next day he busied himself with work until around five in the evening. He would have prepared dinner now, but he was not hungry. He was restless, and so was his animal. He would let it out for a few hours and hopefully the rest of the evening would be easier.
Leaving the office, he went to his bedroom and removed his clothes. It was almost dark, so he made the shift on the porch near the side door. The second he was in bear form, he felt it.
Danger. Abby.
His animal stood on its hind legs and smelled the air. She was close. That invisible connection he had to her was stronger. She was closer than San Francisco, and something was horribly wrong. Getting down onto four legs, Andrew’s bear took off at top speed through the woods. He would find her no matter the cost. The bear ran, hitting the sides of shrubs, leaping over small streams, brushing against full grown trees, and even trampled some small ones to get closer. Soon, it was a hundred feet away from Abby’s crumpled SUV that hung precariously at the side of a rocky cliff, held up only by a few weak pine trees that were about to snap, which would send the SUV—and Abby—careening down the cliff to certain death.
Wasting no time, it bounded across the remaining distance, and only stopped when it saw another bear clawing at the side of her vehicle. Andrew’s bear growled loudly to get the bear’s attention, and when the animal turned it knew—this was another bear shifter. The two animals got up on their hind quarters, making themselves larger to scare each other off. Neither of them backed down.
The other bear charged toward Andrew, and had him on his back before he could react. It clawed at his arm, and bit at his neck and face. Andrew’s bear was not going to back down from this fight. He rolled to one side and freed up his front paw enough to swipe at the bear’s shoulder. The animal whimpered and reared back, and somewhere in that sound, Andrew’s bear heard Abby’s name. He stopped and tilted his head, sniffing the air again. He knew who this was, and told the bear he was here for the same reason—to save Abby.
They both rushed toward the vehicle then. Andrew’s slammed a paw through the front passenger side window while the other bear walked around to the front of the vehicle, wedging itself between the pines to stop the SUV from descending any further. When the front passenger door was opened, Andrew carefully pulled Abby from the car and moved her to a safe, wooded spot beside the roadway. She was unconscious, and had a gash on her forehead.
The other bear came beside them. Andrew turned toward it and with a look in its eye, he nodded. They healed themselves, and the two shifted back to their human state.
“Mr. Wittfield?” Andrew asked.
“Yes. You’re Andrew, aren’t you?”
“Yes sir.”
“Let’s get her into my truck. It’s up the hill.”
“You drove here?”
“Well of course, I did.”
“How did you know she was in danger in your animal form?”
“I stay in bear state every Friday, son. I smelled she was in danger, and shifted to human state so I could drive here. Come on, let’s get her in the truck. Lucky for you, I’ve got some extra clothes in my car.”
Andrew remembered they were both completely naked, and covered himself. “Thank you, sir, but we can’t move her any further like this. She has a concussion and a severe neck injury. I saw it while I was still in bear state. Do you have a cell phone? We have to call for help.”
“There’s not enough time! We need to shift back in animal form. We can heal her.”
“I can’t sir. I’ve tried. I can only help animals.”
“How long have you been a shifter son?”
“Two years.”
“It’s clear you have not connected with the community, young man. Alone, a shifter can only heal animals, but two shifters working together can heal humans. There’s no time to explain. Shift back now. I’ll show you.”
They let their animals out again, and Andrew’s bear followed Mr. Wittfield’s lead. They each moved to one side of Abby’s head, and gently lowered a front paw around her head and neck. Andrew could not believe his eyes. The gash on her forehead closed, and under her skin, he could see the neck tissue regenerate. They had healed her.
Stunned, he stood above her, dazed and staring until Mr. Wittfield’s bear growled loudly. They transformed back, and Andrew picked up Abby before following her father to his truck. He put her inside and accepted the spare clothes. “I live fifteen minutes from here. We can get her out of the cold.”
Mr. Wittfield finished dragging on some pants and a thick flannel shirt, and went back to Abby’s vehicle for her purse.
“Fine. Get in.”
He followed Andrew’s directions, and soon they were at the cabin. Mr. Wittfield followed as Andrew took her inside and placed her gently on the guestroom bed where she had slept during the blizzard.
“Why isn’t she waking up?” Her father asked.
“She’s probably in shock. Let her rest a bit. Mr. Wittfield, with the weather outside, you should probably stay the night. I’ll get a room upstairs ready, if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure.” He sat in the armchair beside the bed and looked up at Andrew, concerned and helpless. “Thank you.”
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“Water is fine, thanks.”
“I’ll be right back. Call me if she wakes up.”
***
It was the middle of the night when Andrew heard Abby stir in the bed. Mr. Wittfield had gone to sleep earlier, and Andrew had fallen asleep in the armchair in Abby’s room. He did not want her to be alone that night. When she woke up, she slowly looked around the room.
“Abby.”
She turned to him, reaching a hand up to her forehead. “Andrew? What am I doing here?”
“You’re safe now. You were in an accident in your car. Do you remember?”
She stared past him. “No, I just remember driving to come here to see you. I was going to hear you out. It started raining on the way here, and my car skidded.” She sprang up in the bed. “Oh my god, I hit those trees…and the cliff. Ho
w did I get here?”
“We came for you.”
“Who?”
“Your father and I. It’s fine now. You’re okay now.” Andrew sat at the edge of the bed and kissed her forehead. “Try to get some rest. We can talk in the morning.”
She grasped his hand. “No Andrew. No more waiting. I want to hear what you were going to tell me.”
“You need your rest. You should—”
“No. So help me God, I almost went over a cliff to hear this story. You’re going to tell me right now.”
“Okay.”
Chapter Sixteen
ANDREW returned to the armchair when Abby demanded answers. He took a deep breath and looked at her as she waited. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time. He was such a fool for walking away from her. Thankfully, she had ben gracious enough to give him this chance, and fate had allowed her to live through another ordeal. He was not going to mess this up.
He started. “Emma was my wife, and she was so much more than that. She was my best friend, my med school partner in crime, my teenage crush, and my first play date as a toddler. I didn’t know a life without Emma. Our parents moved in the same circles back in New York. We went all the way through kindergarten, elementary school and high school together. I was the one who would pull her pigtails in grade school.
“Our interests in medicine developed around the same time. We started dating in the last year of high school. By then, everyone had already paired us up, and assumed we’d end up together, as we spent all of our free time together. Her parents were excited she had chosen to do medicine. My parents, well, you know where my father stood.
“We started university together, and got into med school the same year. We were married a week before we started our residency, and ended up at different hospitals as residents, but by then, we lived together and saw each other whenever we weren’t working. After our residency, we found work at the same hospital. I worked in the emergency ward, and she took a position in the hospital’s center for internal medicine.
“Our life together as a married couple was difficult with the hours, but we were best friends. Nothing could come between us—not the back-to-back-to-back twelve-hour shifts at the hospital, not being on call, not the conflicting schedules. None of that changed what we had. For some reason, we started the path together, and I was certain we would be together forever, but I was wrong.
“One winter night, we happened to finish up a shift together. It was rare to get off at the same time. So rare, we agreed to leave her car at the hospital, and she drove home with me that night. A winter storm had started just before we left. Freezing rain and high winds—not a good combination for us as we drove home.
“Back when we were married, our parents had bought us a house on Long Island. It was a dream for them, to see us try to have a normal life, given the schedules we had as doctors. We also had a condo just blocks from the hospital. Emma had suggested that we stay in the condo overnight, but I was looking forward to a weekend away. I convinced her we could make it to Long Island that night.
“When we crossed over into Long Island, the weather turned on us. The roads were sheets of ice in spots. I was driving at a snail’s pace to get us home in one piece. After what seemed like hours, we were five minutes away. All that stood between us and our house was one bridge.
“I took it very slowly. I knew the bridge had a tendency to ice up something awful. It was not too bad that night, but I was still careful. When we were about a third of way across, it was impossible to drive. We were slipping and sliding around. I had no control of the car. It was so bad, I coasted to a stop and searched the trunk for winter chains. It was freezing, but I got them on eventually.
“Finally back in the car, I drove off. I had made it halfway to the other side when I noticed a car coming from the opposite direction. It was weaving and swerving in the same way our car had been doing. I stopped again because for a moment, it looked like the driver had no control. For a moment, the other car came to a stop, at least it seemed like it did. That was when I drove off again. By then, there was no time to stop, or swerve, or get out of its way.
“The vehicle hit us head on. I still think about that today. If I had not stopped to put on the chains, we might have avoided that driver completely. Emma would have had her seatbelt on and we might have gotten home safely. If we had stayed at the condo near the hospital, none of this would have happened.
“After the collision, I may have blacked out for a minute or two. When I woke up, I looked beside me and Emma was not there. She had been thrown from the vehicle. She must have taken off her seatbelt while I was putting on the chains. I tried to get out of the car, but something was wrong with my left arm. I managed to open my door with my right arm and stumbled out of the car, trying to find Emma. I think I lost it when I saw her. Before I touched her, I went back to the car and call 911.
“I looked into the other driver’s car. It was a middle-aged man driving an old Chevy truck. Maybe the airbags failed, or it’s possible the truck predated airbags. There was so much blood. The man’s head was lifeless, resting on the steering wheel, pressing on his horn.
“I ran over to Emma and dropped to my knees beside her. She had cuts and lacerations, and her arms and one leg lay in such odd positions, I knew they were broken in multiple spots. I tried to give her CPR, but my left arm wouldn’t work. I ran back to the car to get some blankets from the trunk and covered her with them. She was lifeless. She would not move. I tried some more CPR with one hand, which was difficult. There was a trail of blood trickling from her forehead too. I think that’s when I froze. Something about it made me notice my own arm.
“While I was putting on the chains, I was sweating, so I had taken off my winter coat. After the collision, as I tried to tend to Emma, all I had on was hospital scrubs. My arm was bloody and mangled. It seemed to hang on by just the skin and a bit of flesh. Something about it made me unable to look away.
“I don’t know how long I had been looking at it, but when I finally looked up, the female paramedic was there. Theriona, I have to assume. She told me Emma and the man would be fine, and shortly after that, I blacked out again. When I woke up again, a fire truck had arrived. First on scene asked me what had happened, but I was in shock. I know I told him to take care of Emma, and that the man in the car was hurt badly.
“I was so out of it when I came out from my haze. I had shouted out that it was my fault, that I was to blame. I felt it was my fault, because I stopped to put on the chains. I was the one who made the decision not to stay at the condo like Emma had suggested. Those decisions were my fault, and on my most objective days, I can admit the accident really was no one’s fault. If there was anyone to blame, it would have been the driver of the other vehicle. He had crossed the center line and hit us head on. In reality, it was Mother Nature. A sad sequence of events. Unfortunate circumstance. Bad luck.
“We were all transported in separate ambulance vehicles back to the trauma ward of the hospital where Emma and I worked. That was also a coincidence, I think. There must have been ambulance chasers on scene, because before we had made it to the hospital, several news outlets had already reported the accident. One outlet had video coverage of my outburst. It had me shouting it was my fault, and that I had killed them. The headlines all quickly changed to something like ‘medical doctor and future billionaire heir kills two’, and ‘vehicular homicide in Long Island’.
“Of course, I was the only survivor. The police had come to take my statement at the hospital. The timing was horrible. I just learned that Emma had died. Even then, I was saying I killed her. Then, this shifter healing happened—in front of about six or seven medical staff, and my father. Before they could finish questioning me, I escaped from the hospital room with my dad’s help.
“He did the damage control, and I think I already mentioned he paid off a few people to ‘unsee’ what they had witnessed. Within a week, everything had been straightened out. The police
did their on scene assessment of the collision and it was confirmed the other driver had lost control. I was cleared, but during that week, there was one detective on a mission to destroy me. Or maybe it was the Carrington name. I don’t know. Maybe he just hated our family, or all people who had come from money. I still don’t know what his problem was.
“He was the one who suggested to the media that charges were going to be laid against me. He was one of the officers at the hospital. He had jumped the gun, but with the media frenzy, the damage had already been done. It was reported I was charged with vehicular homicide. For a short time, I believe it was true. My dad eventually got the lawyers on it, and when I was cleared, the NYPD issued a public apology with the District Attorney’s office, confirming that no charges had ever been laid. The news outlets retracted their stories, but it was too little too late.
“None of that mattered to me. None of it. All I cared about was Emma. Emma was gone. All the noise from the media, and the charges, and the police. That’s all it was. It was noise, far off in the distance, far away from me. I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Emma was dead. Even the way my arm healed felt like it never happened. I still didn’t know what I was, but I was grieving for Emma and nothing else mattered.
“My dad tried to help me. I remember my mother had phoned me once from Europe. Friends had phoned. My colleagues at work all tried to help me. I was referred to therapists, grief counselors, and group counseling sessions, but it was too soon. The loss was too fresh. I could not speak. I don’t believe I spoke during that time. If I did, it might have been during the nightmares.
“I couldn’t function. For months, I was a shell at my dad’s condo. He and his housekeeper were the only people who saw me. His housekeeper would make me meals, and leave them on a table near the door of my bedroom. I barely ate, but she was persistent. She would make all of my favorites. One day, my animal released itself, right there in the condo. I trashed the place, and when my father got home, he saw me as I was transforming back to human form. All I can tell you is I love my father. He wasn’t even afraid. He walked over to me and held me, and told me he would help me figure out what happened to me.
Cabin Bear Heat Box Set: A Paranormal Fantasy Bear Shifter Romance (A Bear Shifter Romance Retelling of the Billionaire Redemption Series Book 2) Page 38