I couldn’t move, couldn’t answer him. Just stood there, staring at the small bit of car we could see.
‘Taylor,’ he said louder, giving me a small shake. ‘I need you to call for help.’
Finally, I looked at him, but it wasn’t him I was seeing. ‘I can’t,’ I said shakily. ‘I’m sorry. I can’t do this again.’
40
JACK
She was pale, paler than I’d ever seen anyone before, and her eyes stared at me, tortured.
‘I don’t understand,’ I said. ‘Taylor?’
She shook her head, clearly in shock. ‘This isn’t happening.’
I gently but firmly gripped her upper arms. ‘Hey, look at me. If that is Hannah down there, we need to help her, OK? I need to get down there and I need you to call for help, just like you did when Casey fell off the cliff, OK? Can you do that for me?’
The mention of Casey was like a slap across the face. She blinked rapidly, then focused on my face and nodded.
‘Say the words, Taylor, so I know you understand.’
‘Yes, I can do that.’
‘It’s going to be OK,’ I reassured her. ‘Just stay off the road. I don’t need anything happening to you too.’
She nodded, then stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the mouth, pressing hard, as if imprinting her touch on me. ‘Be careful,’ she said after she broke away.
‘I will.’
Clutching handfuls of the brush to stop myself from falling down the steep incline, I slowly made my way down into the gully, following the brown branches and dirt until I came upon the wreckage we’d seen from the road. A silver Toyota Camry, latest model. Hannah’s car. It had come to rest against a tree, the front bonnet crumpled as easily as if it had been paper. Steam was slowly escaping from the engine, and the front windscreen was shattered.
‘Hannah,’ I called, shining the torch at the driver’s window. There was no reply.
I yanked at the handle, tugging. The door had been warped by the collision, making it hard to open, but after a few solid pulls it gave way with a screech of twisted metal. Hannah was slumped in her seat, blood trickling from a gash on her forehead. Her eyes were closed, and for a brief, heart-stopping second, I thought she was dead. Then she groaned.
I gently touched her shoulder. ‘Hannah, it’s Jack. You’ve been in an accident. Help is on its way. Can you open your eyes for me?’
She groaned again. ‘Jack?’
‘I’m here.’
‘What happened?’
‘You ran off the road.’
‘I don’t remember anything,’ she mumbled.
‘Don’t worry about that now. The important thing is to get you out of here. Are you hurt anywhere besides your head?’
She reached up a hand to her head, touching the blood. ‘I don’t know.’
I reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt. There was an empty bottle of vodka in the passenger footwell, and the smell of alcohol was strong. Anger rose in my throat but I swallowed it down. This wasn’t the time for recriminations.
‘Jack.’
I jumped at Taylor’s voice behind me. ‘What are you doing down here?’
‘I needed to tell you that Gerry is on his way, and he’s organizing help.’ She peered past me into the wreckage. ‘Is she…?’
