Picture Perfect

Chapter Twenty-Three - Tyler

CW: hospitals, medical stuff, blood, car crash - please look after yourself!

Love, Cam

♡ 

Chapter Twenty-Three

Tyler

It had been an absolute nightmare of a morning. I'd woken up late, and so had Sorcha, having forgotten to set alarms after a late night with my family. Saskie was late for school, and while I knew that wasn't the end of the world, she certainly was acting like it was the end of the world. I had let Elliot know, so there wasn't anything to manically rush for, but Saskie was already close to tears and I was trying to placate her.

"In the car seat," I said, opening the door and gesturing to the booster seat that she used.

"It takes ages," she whined.

"Sask, it's not optional," I said sternly. "It's against the law for you not to be in your booster seat. Get in."

She was on the verge of a fit, but her wish to get to school overrode the tears, so she climbed into the seat and let me buckle her in.

"Right, let's go," I said, knowing that once she was dropped off, I was going to take three very deep breaths and go and get a coffee.

I pulled out of the parking space and set off towards the school. It was only a short drive but it felt like all the traffic lights were working against us, turning red just as we reached them. Saskie got more and more frustrated, and I tried not to just slam my head against the steering wheel. I was ravenously hungry and developing a headache, and this just wasn't what I needed with Siobhan and my parents at home.

The light turned green, and I pulled out into the crossroads, ready to go.

Several things happened at once. Saskie made a noise of frustration. I clenched my jaw in an effort to stop making a snarky comment. There was a loud car horn. And something hit my car.

It felt funny, like I was on a strange ride at a funfair. The car was moving, and I wasn't doing anything. It made me feel disconnected from reality. I frowned, and I applied the handbrake, slowly moving while everything around me sped up. My head hit the side window. We stopped moving with a jolt, but something was wrong. There was smoke.

Saskie screamed, and I returned to reality.

The car was dented all along one side; the side that I wasn't on. I checked myself quickly, cold horror seeping through me. Check myself for injuries first; the same rules as making sure you apply your own oxygen mask first. I had to make sure I could help Saskie.

Saskie, who had screamed.

I wasn't in pain. Distantly, I knew that adrenaline stopped you from feeling pain for a while under trauma. But I had to assume I was okay. I had to be okay.

I undid my seatbelt and turned around, my heart in my mouth.

I nearly threw up when I saw her. The car door had been slammed, shoving it inwards and pushing it against her. She was unconscious. She was so still and small. I gasped, sucking in air, because I hadn't been breathing. I had forgotten how to take in air.

"Sask," I said, but my voice was funny, like the words were on my tongue but couldn't quite fight their way out of my mouth properly.

I got out of the car. I couldn't get to her like this. Distantly, I noticed that the other car had left. Just sped off, leaving us like this. We could have died, and they didn't even stay to check.