We hit the bridge hard the car skidded into a ditch adjacent to the bridge. The car was hissing and steaming and I could feel something gripping my leg. I was trembling from head to toe as I tried to lock my eyes onto something I could find comfortable.
But all I smelled was smoke and all I could feel was the cold of the outside breathing down my neck.
“Abby? Abby, are you all right?”
Tears flowed down my cheeks as I sniffled and nodded.
“Yeah. I can hear you. Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine. Just stay there. I’m coming around.”
I heard a door open before the cool air flooded the car. My door opened and I could feel Colin’s arm stretch across my body. He unlocked my seatbelt and helped me from the car, my legs trembling as I leaned against his body.
“Are you bleeding anywhere?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. I don’t feel like it,” I said.
“Let me get our things out of the car.”
He led me to the bridge we had careened into and I steadied myself against the concrete. The wind was howling around our bodies as the snow and ice swirled around in small tornadoes of fury. I was shivering and sobbing, trying to come to grips with what had just happened.
And as I continued to dwell on it, anger started rising up my throat.
I knew this was going to happen. I knew Colin was going to get us into an accident. He thought he was so smart because he owned his own company, and he thought I was just a paranoid idiot employee. I told him this weather was going to get us into trouble and I told him we were going to get hurt, and for what!? The only thing he had done was prove me right, and now we were stranded in the middle of a building blizzard with no fucking car in sight to help us out.
I couldn’t even remember where the last exit was even if we wanted to walk!
“All I did was shake my head and turn my back to him.
I could hear him sigh, but he didn’t say anything else. And it was smart of him. He knew the shit he’d gotten us into, and as far as I was concerned I was in charge of the rest of this trip. His decisions almost killed us, just like I knew they would, and I wasn’t about to spend my last moments fighting with some man that fucked me then never called again, even after he said he would.
Fuck him.
I was shivering with my arms tightly across my chest. Colin was beside me, shuffling from foot to foot and moving with the wind. He was trying to block the crosswind from hitting me so I wouldn’t get so cold, but him around moving only made me more anxious. My eyes were trained onto the highway, hoping some crazy idiot would come driving up and have mercy on us.
Because the storm was mounting and we had gotten into the part of Iowa that had no power.
Which meant we had no damn cell service.
Finally, I heard the noise of an eighteen wheeler coming down the highway. I uncurled my arms and stood at the side of the road, waving my arms while my teeth chattered. Colin kept his mouth shut and stood by our bags, and I breathed a sigh of relief when the truck slowed down beside us.
The driver leaned over and threw the door open before he looked down at me with a concerned look.
“You guys okay?” he asked.
“We crashed our car,” I said.
“Where you guys headed?”
“Wichita,” Colin said.
“Well, I’m not going that far into Kansas. Gotta catch a connecting highway in Kansas City. But there should be open rental car places there if the storm hasn’t gotten too bad down that way. I got room if you guys want a ride.”
“Bless you,” I said. “Really.”
I turned around and Colin was already handing me my bag. I quickly took it from him and slung it up onto the seat of the truck. I heard Colin groan behind me, like I’d just done something to embarrass him.
“Don’t you fucking make a sound,” I said.
His eyes connected heatedly with mine, but he didn’t challenge me. He knew he was in trouble. He knew he’d screwed up. I climbed up into the cab of the truck and left Colin to get his own self up there. He neatly slid his bag across the floorboard of the truck before he sat beside me and closed the door.
“Thank you for the ride,” Colin said. “I’d appreciate it if you could hurry.”
I groaned and rolled my eyes before I looked over at the truck driver.
“Take all the time you wish,” I said, smiling.
Really? Colin was embarrassed that I tossed my luggage onto the seat, but then he was telling this guy to hurry? This man was kind enough to give us a lift into the state he was so ready to be in, and he thought he could start barking orders? How the hell had his company stayed afloat with that mind of his? We were just in an accident that could’ve mangled our bodies because he was making business decisions instead of smart healthy decisions.
Like going too damn fast on a road when snow and ice were falling from the sky.
“Either of you need to see a doctor?” the driver asked.
“Nope. There are no more stops needed for us,” Colin said.
“Was he driving the car when it crashed?” the driver asked.
“Yep,” I said, grinning.
“I’m Doug, by the way.”
“Abby,” I said, as I shook his hand. “It’s nice to
