Picture This

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Ian

Once I got the keys to my Mercedes, I watched as Charlie came back out of the restaurant and stood at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change.  I smiled at her as I walked over to open up her door. 

This was it.  We were going to take a ‘walk in the park’ and I was going to ask her. 

When the light changed, I smiled as she walked toward me.  But then I heard the weirdest noise that I’ve ever heard.  I looked behind the other cars to see another one speeding down the road and not looking like it was going to stop.

Actually, I could hear that the drive had his breaks on so he was probably sliding on the ice…

And heading straight for the car that Charlie was just about to pass in front of.

She’d stopped right in front of the car that was just about to get hit.  Her eyes were wide as the other car continued forward. 

“Charlie, move!” I yelled.

I started running but I knew by looking at the other car that I wasn’t going to get there in time. 

I saw Charlie look at me as I ran toward her.  She had a sad look in her eyes, like she knew that something was going to happen to her to not let her come back to me. 

“Charlie, no!” I yelled again, twenty feet away. 

She smiled sadly, still looking at me, just as the car crashed into the other. 

It was shot forward and hit her legs.  She was propelled over the hood.   I saw the glass shatter on the windshield as she flew into it, over the roof, and onto the other car’s hood.  The momentum wasn’t letting her go yet, though. 

She continued into the other windshield, breaking it also, until she rolled off the hood and onto the pavement. 

All I could do was stand there and watch it all play out. 

“No!” I yelled, and started running toward where Charlie’s body was lying on the ground. 

The sound of crying filled the intersection as I ran toward her.  As I got closer, I started to hear the sound of sirens in the distance. 

Once I got to her, I fell to the pavement beside her.  I thought I was going to puke when I saw her.

Her bottom of her right leg was twisted at an angle that it shouldn’t have been in.  There was blood all over her pants, especially near the top, and it seemed to seep into it even more as the seconds passed.  Her coat was ripped in several places along her arms.  Her right wrist, just like her leg, was bent at an odd angle.  But when I got to her face, my heart stopped. 

She had a long gash on her forehead that was gushing blood.  There was probably one on the back of her head also because a small pool of blood was forming around her head, staining her blond hair red. 

“Charlie,” I breathed. 

Her eyes were closed and her chest was only going up and down slightly.  There was a little trickle of blood coming out of her slightly opened mouth. 

I leaned down, placing my hand on the top of her head and leaned my forehead against her cheek. 

“Charlie, please,” I choked out.  “Don’t leave me.”

I didn’t realize there was a flurry of movement around me until someone put their hand on my shoulder.  I looked up into the face of a paramedic.

“You’re going to have to back away so we can take a look at her,” he said calmly. 

I nodded slowly, moving back onto my knees. 

I watched as he and another paramedic starting looking at Charlie.  She hadn’t moved or opened her eyes. 

The next thing I saw was a stretcher being brought over and them loading her up on it to be put in the back of the ambulance.  I couldn’t move as they wheeled her away.

The same paramedic as before looked at me.  “You’re going to have to follow behind us,” he said sadly.  “Her injuries are too severe for you to ride in the back.”

I nodded numbly. 

“What’s her name?” he asked. 

“Charlotte,” I said.  “Charlotte Henry.”  I swallowed hard, trying to stop the tears from coming.  “Today’s her birthday.  I…”  I swallowed hard.  “I was going to ask her to…”

“It’s okay,” he said, smiling sadly down at me.  “We’re going to do everything we can to help her.”

Ugh, tear!

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