#NoFilter

-Chapter 16-

~Chloe's POV~

I slam on the brakes, the tires of my truck screeching to a halt just inches away from hitting someone.

The headlights shine on a young brunette who seems lost and completely disoriented. It takes me a second to figure out who it is because this girl's face is so bruised and beaten, her small fragile body is wracked with terrible shivers and trembles.

"Max?!!".

"Chloe?" she replies with a timid scared smile.

She stares at me for a second before suddenly collapsing, disappearing in front of the truck.

"Max!" I cry again, jumping from the truck, the engine still roaring. I rush up to her limp body and panic, "Max, oh god. Oh god, what... what happened to you?".

Her parents did this, dumbass! She kept telling us that they'd kill her if they found out. She wasn't lying!

I watch as her chest rises and falls rapidly and harsh raspy breaths escape her lips.

"Shit".

She needs her inhaler.

"Hey... can you hear me?" I ask, reserving an incoherent moan as a reply.

"Come on, we've gotta get you somewhere warm".

She's only in her thin street clothes which are already soaked through from her lying in the snow.

This is all your fault! At the first sign of danger you go and hide like a coward! You ran away from the consequences! You ran from your mistakes! You ran from Max!

Tears well in my eyes and I wallow in my own self-pity.

"Oh, Max".

She's conscious and I can tell that she's fighting hard to stay awake.

I quickly bend down and scoop Max up in my arms, wincing a little when she cringes in pain.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry" I mumble, loading her into the truck.

I have no clue about where I should take her since I never ended up making it to a motel, but all I know is that she needs help.

Medical help.

"Max? Maxie?" I say, strapping her in, "I'ma take you to the hospital, okay?".

I have no fucking idea what those assholes did to her or how hurt Max actually is, but all I know is that if I don't get her help soon... ugh, I don't even want to think about that.

"Shit," I curse again, slamming the door and running over the driver's side of the truck.

I rev the engine and peel out of the small quiet neighborhood, leaving skid marks in the snow.

The nearest hospital is nearly an hour away, thirty minutes if I take reds.

As we speed down the unevenly paved road, Max slowly starts coming to.

"C- Chloe?" she mutters, her voice sounding more like a wheeze.

"Max! Hey, come on, I- I need you to stay awake, okay? Just keep taking".

She moans in protest, "But I'm so tired, Chloe-e. I wanna sleep".

Shit, she's even more out of it than I thought.

"I know, but you gotta stay awake for just a bit longer, alright?".

Her eyes flutter open for a few seconds as she peers over at me, revealing her tired, pained, dull blue eyes.