Out Of The Woods

The Way It Ends

Victims of a sudden impact are some of the hardest to treat. It's not just the collision that injures them, it's everything after, the centrifugal force keeps them moving; tossing them from vehicles, throwing them through windshields, slamming their internal organs into the skeleton, their bodies are injured over and over again. So there's no way to know how much damage has actually been done until they stop.

It was the sound of somebody calling her name that woke her.

She opened her eyes slightly, the dimly lit lights of the rig making her wince in pain before she fully opened them. She sat up with a groan, and suddenly a familiar face popped up up over her, relief filling their features.

"Oh, you're awake! Thank God. We thought we lost you."

Pidge only groaned in response, shifting around. Looking around, she saw Acxa attending Romelle, who was barely conscious but still alive. Acxa had what looked like a piece of glass piercing her arm and a closer look at her foot proved that it was sprained. Pidge's gaze flickered over to James, and one look at him showed her that he had a few scratches and bruises along his arms, which were now void of the jacket he had been previously wearing. Looking down, she could see that it was on top of her, keeping her warm through the cold October night.

"What happened?" she asked, trying to stand up, only to feel a sharp pain running down her abdomen, making her cry out in pain.

"Hey, hey, take it easy," James said, helping her sit back down on the ground, propping her up against the seats in the rig. "You have a nasty cut on your forehead and you were knocked out for a solid half hour. You need to stay put."

Pidge only let out a heavy huff before nodding. Licking her lips, she opened her mouth to croak out a raspy, "fine."

Acxa's head snapped around to look at Pidge, and relief flooded her features as she hobbled closer towards her.

"You're awake. That's good. Any pain anywhere? Contractions? Do you feel dizzy at all? Nauseous?"

"With all those questions I am," Pidge mumbled, slightly shaking her head. "I'm fine–agh!"

She failed to hold in a small shout as another round of pain ran through her abdomen, almost as if in protest of her saying she was fine. She closed her eyes and winced, throwing her head back.

"Shit."

Acxa's brows shot up in concern. "Is it contractions? Shit, I knew this would happen when you woke up. Where's the pain coming from?"

"It's...it's not contractions," Pidge said through clenched teeth, barely shaking her head. "My water didn't break. We're okay for now."

"Maybe it's something else internally," James suggested to Acxa, who turned her attention to him. "She got the worst of the impact. The car hit us on her and Romelle's side, not ours, so there might be possible trauma to her internal organs."

Acxa nodded. "You're right. Pidge, where's the pain coming from?"

"Around my lower back and...and abdomen," Pidge said, scrunching her eyes shut tightly as the stabbing pain returned when she tried to move. "Gah! What the fuck?!"

"Internal injury," James said, looking at Acxa. "We need to call another rig to get us before someone dies here."

"Nobody is going to die, Griffin. We're just injured."

"You have a sprained ankle and glass stuck in your arm and we have a pregnant woman that's injured and who could go into labor at any minute. Then we have a barely conscious paramedic with a possible concussion and me with bruises all over my arms and torso and small cuts. We're hurt, and we need help so get your head out of your ass and help me contact someone!"