Carlton ✔

38| The Unplanned Escape

No. I wasn't okay. My whole body was shivering in pain. My eyes drifted down and I saw it. Breanna had failed to tie the T-shirt tight enough and blood had seeped through.

"Hurry, find Phil, now." Or I am going to die from blood loss.

She slammed on the accelerator.

We heard gunshots in the distance. Immediately, she came to a halt. Through the window, I saw Phil kicking a man in the face. He jumped when Breanna honked at him.

A fraction of a second later, he hurried into the car beside me. "Holy shit! You're a mess!"

Hurry, please. I can't take it anymore.

"Ms. Riley, how far?!" Phil yelled, surprising me from the respect he showed even during pressing situations.

"How far, what?! Should I go to a hospital or to Caden?!"

"Not the hospital!" I interrupted. Augustus would easily catch me there and I would surely die then. At least I had a chance of surviving this way. Even if it was small, I'd take it. Caden."

"But-"

"Do as he says!" Phil told Breanna. "I'll handle it." He proceeded to reach under the seat and pull out a first aid kit. His moments were hurried, and frightful. Perhaps this was the most paranoid I had ever seen him.

Asking me to bite on a piece of cloth, his concerned look rose my blood pressure high. He was holding up some kind of metallic forcep in his hand. "This will hurt."

The blood rushed away from my face when I realised what it was.

I gave him an approving stare. But I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready for that type of pain.

The next few minutes were few of the most horrifying moments of my life. It felt as if my soul was being pulled of my body by a force of a millions nails, hammering into my body all at once. In the same spot.

I screamed and moaned in pain, biting into the cloth. I felt beads of tears stream down my eyes, drenching my entire face. Such an excruciating amount of pain knocked me back several years as my life flashed by in front of my eyes.

And just like that, the pain suddenly eased a bit.

Phil was holding up the blood-ridden bullet between the forcep. "It's done. It's over."

I was speechless. No voice came out of my mouth. Either because of screaming so much, or because I was losing conciousness bit by bit. Because God dammit, I was not ready for that.

Phil was wrapping a bandage around my shoulder when I saw Breanna. I couldn't see her face, but she was wiping tears from her cheeks as she drove.

All of a sudden, a bullet zipped through the back window, shattering the glass into pieces. Breanna shrieked, while Phil made me duck down.

"Fucking hell!" Phil peeked from the seat. "Keep driving!"

The car had become way faster now, curving and dashing through the traffic. Breanna was a damn good driver, I'd give her that. Remembering that she literally slammed into a guy earlier without flinching.

Once again, Phil removed something from under the seat. This time, it was an assault rifle. What else is under that seat?

The bullet noises were muffled as Phil shot at the people who were following us. And it struck me...I was losing conciousness. Was it the pain? The sides of my vision blackened as my head fell backward. The last thing I saw was Phil asking me to fight it.

I couldn't.

*****

I was woken up from a pitched, yet low buzzing noise without a source, and an uncomfortable pressure in my ears.