Is he really that blind that he didn't pick up on a single thing I said or anything I've been doing?
I was trying to let him make his own choice without the pressure of confronting him directly with how I feel. I thought it was obvious, though. But apparently, I was desperately wrong.
"Nikita… " he says. But his words are cut short as piercing bright lights come racing toward the side window. I scream in terror, realizing that the car is going to crash right into us.
The impact is devastating. Everything moves in slow motion.
Shattered glass glitters through the car, shining in front of me as it catches the light.
The crash knocks the air from my lungs. The airbag explodes from the panel in front of me, and I'm whiplashed sideways at the same time as it hits me, pushing me back into my seat. Unfortunately, there is so much glass in the air that it also pushes tiny shards of glass into my face.
The strange thing is that I don't feel any of it. I don't feel any pain at all.
The only thing I am terrifyingly aware of is that I can't breathe and it feels like I will never be able to breathe again.
I gasp, and no air comes into my lungs. My vision swims, and I gasp again.
A flicker of hope. The minutest of breaths.
Focusing everything on my chest, I open my throat and drag air into my mouth.
The world spins.
Darkness sinks over my shoulders, and I collapse to the side, held up by the safety belt cutting into my shoulder. As I slip away into peaceful oblivion, my last thought is of Bardil as I try to reach out toward him, but my hand grasps at nothing.
Chapter 23 - Bardil
My head pulses, and the muscles along the back of my neck spasm in pain. When I try to open my eyes, they burn, and I quickly squeeze them shut again. My head is so heavy I can't move it. The pain is indescribable.
I'm lying on a tarred road, fighting to remember how I got here. My cheek is pressed into the cold ground, and the worst headache I've ever had is throbbing inside my skull.
I try to move, and more pain shoots through me. Bruises. Tender flesh. Pulled muscles.
What happened?
An image flashes in my mind. Headlights. Broken glass.
A car crash! We were driving…
I remember the airbag…
"Nikita," I groan, my voice so dry her name comes out as a rasp.
"Nikita?" I say louder, wondering if I got thrown from the car in the crash. It would explain why I'm lying on the road. Rolling onto my side takes everything I have, but I need to get up. I need to find her and make sure she's ok.
"Nikita," I say again, a little louder than before.
"Wakie wakie, eggs and bakie," someone taunts.
What a fucking weird thing to say.
I groan again and push myself up off the ground. My arms shake at the effort of it. I try to reach up and touch my face. Tiny shards of glass are biting at my skin.
At some point, my hands meet resistance, and I realize I'm tied to a hook in the floor. Thick ropes are knotted around my wrists.
What the fuck?
It's not the road beneath me. It's a cold cement floor. I'm not even outside.
