Chapter Twenty-Three
Sweat runsdown my face and I squint, blind from the fog on my windshield. I crank the defogger to max. The wipers chop frantically back and forth, unable to clear the rivers of water.
What am I doing out on a night like this?
Hoooonkkkk! The blare of a horn sends a shockwave through my body, and white hot headlights in my rearview mirror blast my eyeballs.
My car shakes, blown back and forth by gusts of wind. I can barely see the reflectors on the guardrail. I’m going too fast, but the maniac behind me keeps his horn going.
I signal right, hoping he’ll pass me, but he sticks to my tail instead. The road’s too winding. A flashing light tells me to slow down for the hairpin turn.
Why aren’t the brakes working? I can’t turn. The steering wheel’s stuck. I floor the brakes and pow!
I crash through the guardrails and fly for a moment only, and then, I’m turning upside down and all around. A shrill scream pierces my eardrum, and I try grabbing onto something, anything.
Only there’s nothing to hold onto. I fall and fall and fall. Any second now, I’ll crash and die. I must remember those I love. How will I know them? How will they know me?
Mama. Papa. Connor. Jenna. Grady, Melisa. Dale.
There’s one more! I have to call him, or he’ll be gone forever.
Who am I missing?
Mama. Papa. Connor…
Thwap, boom, crash, crunch. I’m a goner. I’m lost and I’ll never find him again.
“Brian! Brian Wonder!”
“Cait, I’m here. What happened?” A familiar voice sounded through the dark.
Cait jolted up, her eyes popping open.
A man ran through the doorway and turned on the bedside lamp.
Cait shielded her eyes and cringed into her bedsheets. It had been a dream. Only a dream.
“Brian?” She croaked through her sore throat. “What took you so long? You weren’t back, and I was so tired I went to sleep.”
“You wanted to be left alone, so I stayed in the car until you turned off the lights.”
“Weren’t you cold?” She touched his cheek.
“I had a down jacket on, and Sierra and Melia kept me warm in the back seat.”
“I shouldn’t have driven you away,” she said, reaching for him. “Hold me. I didn’t really want to be alone.”
“Should I get into the bed with you? It’s not our night.”
“Every night is our night.” She had to remember his special needs, that he needed to be told literally what to do. It wasn’t romantic or sweet, but it was the only way he operated.
“Okay, gladly.” He threw the covers back and climbed into bed. “What happened? You were screaming for me.”
“I had a bad dream.” She shuddered in his arms. “I couldn’t stop the car. There was a truck chasing me down the mountain, and the rain was heavy. I floored the brakes and the car went faster and faster. I crashed because the brakes failed.”
“The brakes failed?” Brian gaped at her. “I just had new brake pads put on. How could it be?”
“I don’t know, but I wasn’t driving too fast. I was trying to stop. There was a huge truck or SUV tailgating me. He had his high beams on and he kept blaring his horn.”
