Patchworked Hearts {SAMPLE}

Chapter 5

***

A creaking sound echoed above her head, followed by crackling and the smell of smoke.

Get out, a voice whispered in the back of her dazed mind. Get out, Helen. Get out. GET OUT!

Get out? Why? Where's Cecily?

"Cece?" she wheezed, trying in vain to open her eyes. "Ce?"

"Helena," came the weak croak from somewhere beside her. "Helena. I can't feel my legs."

"Okay," she replied, but it took far too long for her to actually register the words. "Shit." Peeling open her eyes, she blinked furiously when harsh light greeted her, flickering in and out of focus.

"Ce?" she asked, confused when the strange light reflected off shattered glass and pieces of plastic and metal. Her head felt funny too, and she didn't realize she was upside down until she tried to move.

Her fingers fumbling with her seat belt, she groaned when she managed to release it and slammed into the ceiling of the car. A pained gasp escaped her lips when her entire body vibrated with the impact, the harsh agony zinging through her limbs.

"Ouch," she mumbled, dropping her head to the side to find Cecily through the crack between the two front seats; her eyes widened when they settled on her little sister in the passenger seat, whose body was half-hidden by the crumpled dashboard, her legs pinned even as her upper body dangled sideways.

"Ce?" she tried in vain to keep the hysteria from her voice. "Talk to me."

Her little sister grunted, and Helen could barely make out her dark eyes in the flickering light, so much like her own and yet filled with terror. "Legs," Cecily repeated. "Can't feel m'legs, Helena."

The panic in Helen's mind was an immediate, white-hot buzz that took over her actions and allowed her to push away her own pain and focus on her sister's.

"Okay, Cece," she murmured, hoping the waver in her voice wasn't obvious. "Okay. Hold on for just a minute." Shifting until she was leaned against the side of the door, Helen sucked in a harsh breath when her spine protested the movement, accompanied by a sudden, pounding headache. It was hard to breathe too, but she couldn't determine if her struggle came from the thick, murky air or the stinging in her ribs.

Something's not right, her mind nagged. Something's wrong.

But of course something was wrong. They'd been in a car accident and Cecily was stuck; what more could be wrong?

So lost in confusing thoughts, Helen barely caught Cecily's frantic voice. "—quickly," her sister finished, sounding panicked. "Please hurry, Helena!"

There were tears in Cecily's voice, and Helen blinked harshly. "What is it?" she asked, the rock of dread growing in her stomach for reasons unknown to her. "What's wrong? I'll get you, Ce. Just hold on a minute."

The person in the driver's seat was hanging upside down too, she noted, but she'd deal with that after she made sure Cecily was alright.

"Fire!" Cecily's raspy voice choked. "Fire, Helena! Fire!"

Helen registered the heat surrounding the car on all sides mere moments before her mind conjured up a single thought: So that's why the light is flickering.

And then the hysteria made itself known, and her movements were jerky as she frantically tried to crawl across the roof and into the front cabin. "Coming, Cece," she soothed as best she could. "Coming."