DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH ME - LJZ

4:00am

Atlas quickly turned to the right and onto the road. But immediately stopped when she heard a crash behind her.

Malachi was paying too close attention to her, he didn't turn.

All she could see was the wreckage of whatever was left of Malachi's car, right in an abandoned shop.

She ran towards the scene, terrified. Had her damn ego cost this guy his life? Had her inability to back down made this man die?

But up close the wreckage was so much more awful.

Malachi had taken a blow to the head, he was bleeding, his lip was busted. He was passed out.
Atlas immediately made a move to check for a pulse. She let out a sigh of relief when she felt one. Barely.

She opened up the car door and begin carrying him over to her car. They needed a medic, and they needed one quick.

She heaved out a breath after placing him in the passenger seat and moved quickly to her side. She sat down and pressed the gas pedal.

As the people heard the car engine in the distance they were cheering. Joyous, even if they weren't right on who would win. It was excitement from the moment. Adrenaline. And Lucas was relieved when he saw their car pull up first. He didn't want to know what would happen if Malachi had won. What he would've made them do. What he would've made her do.

But as everyone saw Malachi's bloodied form from the passenger window. It all immediately died down. Into shouts of worry. Anxiety building up in everyone's chests, choking them. Fear.

Needless to say, Lucas' relief was short lived.

Atlas skid to a stop at their starting point. She gout her head out of the window.

"Lucas get in the fucking car! He crashed!" Atlas yelled. Her anxiety was reaching unhealthy levels at this point and all she wanted to do was get to the nearest emergency room.

Lucas seemed paralyzed for a second, but came to his senses when Atlas beeped at him. He immediately moved to the back seat. Before he could even fully close the door, Atlas sped off and away from the raging crowd. Now worried for the health of their leader.

As Atlas was driving at an unreasonable and way too fast speed. Lucas went up and asked her the question that had been burning him since she first skid to a start at the beginning.

"What the hell happened?"

Atlas was not in the mental state to be answering question she didn't even fully know the answer to. She was petrified and frustrated and completely focused on getting there before it was too late.

"I'll tell you later."

Lucas chose to leave it at that. Clearly noticing the tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She was in distress and he didn't want to add to that.

They drive silently the rest of the drive. Praying to whatever the fuck was up there that they would make it on time.

Atlas pumped the breaks as they came up to the emergency room. Bringing the car to an abrupt stop.

They both got out of the car, each had an arm around Malachi.

As they entered the infirmary doors, Atlas yelled. "Help! Help please he crashed!"

Two nurses came to grab him and put him on the bed. They took him away. Leaving Atlas and Lucas in the waiting room.

• • •

They had been waiting for awhile, although both lost track of time. In this time Atlas managed to tell Lucas and one of he doctors what she knew of what happened. Of course she left out how this all occurred during an illegal drag race. But Lucas already knew that part.

A doctor call me out of the door, "Atlas? That was your name wasn't it?" He called.

Atlas stood up along with Lucas, "How is he?" She asked, somewhat scared of he answer.

"He should be ok, although since you're not family I'm not obligated nor am I allowed to tell you more. I'm sorry." He told her, a look of fake sympathy on his face.

Both Atlas and Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. "It's ok that's all we need to know." Lucas told the doctor.

The man gave them one final nod and look of sympathy before going back to wherever he came from.

Atlas looked towards Lucas, "Thank fuck he's gonna be ok." She said, smiling slightly toward the end.

"Yeah." He told her, the relief seemed to be overwhelming him. He didn't need someone's blood on his hands. And neither did Atlas. Not again.

As they took a moment to look at each other. They finally felt something they hadn't in awhile. Peace of mind. He was ok. They were ok.

They both made a move to go back to the car. They've done all they possibly could now.

As Atlas began starting the car and it roared to life, Lucas looked towards her. "So, is this the part where we call it a night?" He asked her. He felt after that experience she'd want to not continue.

She looked back at him with an incredulous look painting her features. "Look at the time hun, you're not getting rid of me that easily."

The time was 3:58am. Nowhere near 6.

"I just thought after that-" Lucas began saying.

"Well you thought wrong." Atlas cut him off, turning towards him. "Ok just because this happened, doesn't mean this needs to end." She rotated towards the front once more, looking at the road in front of her again. "We just need to do something to forget this." She spoke again, although it appeared to be mostly to herself.

As they continued driving, a lightbulb went off in Atlas' head. She began smirking as the destination came to her head. "And I know the perfect way to do that." She said once again. The statement hung in the air as Lucas looked at her. He released a silent chuckle. He looked towards the clock once more. The time was 4:00am. Right on the dot.

• • •

I'm starting to realize that these chapters are really long. Should I make them shorter?