A Butler To Love ~A Christian Romance

Chapter 26 ~ Wrecked

Pain. Searing pain in his temples. Wren blinked against inky darkness that blocked his vision. Panic surged through him, but he tampered it. I need to get up, he thought and moved his fingers against what he expected to be a cold, slick floor. 

Confusion mingled with his fear as an unfamiliar, yet familiar, feel of soft, cushioned vinyl met his senses. He stiffened, instinct causing him to listen for the heavy breathing of his attacker and to feel for the vibrations of enemy movement. No... Something wasn't adding up. He again flexed his hand against the surface beneath him,  and his questions vanished as reality crashed back. Tony, the construction job, Princess... A vision of her standing on the graduation stage, of her radiant smile, exploded inside his mind. It almost hurt more than the throbbing in his temple.

Wren, a soft voice whispered. His panic vanished.

My Lord, my God, help me, Wren cried back, fighting against the darkness swirling around him.

Wake up. 

Sounds began to penetrate Wren's blocked hearing. Birds chirped a tune. The silence of nature. Blissful. Then, another noise became audible--hissing. 

A snake?  He knew that guess was wrong.

Again, the voice sounded inside Wren, more urgent than before. Wake up! Energy surged through Wren's weak body. As if waking from a nightmare, he shot up straight and his eyelids flew open. The horrific scene before him made him forget the pain that drummed through his skull.

The sedan was tilted on its side, its roof crushed inward. The front hood had wrapped around a tree, and Wren saw the steep ravine waiting to claim them. Smoke spiraled from somewhere in the bent hood, and Wren realized the hissing sound came from there.

His gaze jerked toward the seat beside him but his view was blocked by a slice of metal roof.  He shuffled with his back pocket, groaned when he withdrew crushed cellphone pieces.

"Leah?" His voice cracked, and he cleared it and spoke her name with strength a second time.

 "W -Wren? Th- thank G-God, you -You're awake."

Relief ignited upon hearing her voice. He wasted no time working his way free from the carnage. "Are you okay?" Wren breathed a prayer of thanks as he twisted each foot and dislodged them from their trapped position against the seat in front. No broken bones.

"Y-yes. But...Fiona. She -she won't answer."

"It's okay, Princess. It's okay. Listen to me. Can you get out of the car?"

"N-no. My s-seatbelt lock is stuck in the d-door. Its c-crushed."

"Alright." Wren drew both knees up tight to his chest, then angled himself and squeezed through a small opening between Fiona's seat and the sunken roof. His heart clenched upon glimpsing the maid's limp frame as he shimmied his way into the front compartment. But due to the dash being crushed inwards, the space here was even tighter. He grimaced. Removing Fiona from the carnage wouldn't be easy. He glanced through the broken wind shield at the small stream of smoke curling from the mangled hood. He didn't want to move her, but did they have time to wait for help?

"Is she o-okay?" Leah's voice trembled with hope.

Wren did his best not to step on or move Fiona as he pulled himself up and through the windshield. Shards of glass bit into his palms and knees, and he stifled a groan as his head pinged with pain from the forceful jostling. Finally, his feet touched the ground. He gripped a tree trunk to keep from tumbling down the ravine.