We were a good forty-five minutes behind the group, and I knew we probably wouldn’t catch them now before they got into Dallas. I realized though, that Eagle was going to give it his best shot as he flew down the empty road to the middle of nowhere, occasionally riding through towns that ranged from—blink and you’ll miss it, to damn, how did I never know this place was here.
Just as we hightailed it out of one more town with a main street and not much else, I took a peek over Eagle’s shoulder, hoping maybe we would get lucky and catch the group so he could slow down a little and I could sit back rather than clutching onto his waist for dear life.
Just as I looked up, I found myself forced forward, Eagle pressing back against me as he tried to hold the bike steady while he raced down the gears in an effort to stop. The bike swerved slightly, and I held on tighter as he managed to keep dragging our speed down without slamming on the breaks and throwing us off the front or forcing the bike onto its side.
I swear all I felt was a whoosh of air skim past my leg and a blur of blue, then I was struck, it felt almost as though someone punched me in the forehead. The force threw my head back, but lucky for me, the helmet protected me from the impact of the flying object.
We came to a jolting stop at the edge of the asphalt, the hum of the motor filling the empty air around us.
But not for long.
The sound of screeching tires came next, then one noise I’ll never forget—the sound of metal being folded and bent as if it were paper and the ground was making origami out of it.
“Get off!” Eagle said urgently as he switched off the motor and his fingers scrambled with the helmet strap. It took me less than a second to send his order from my ears, through my brain and then my body, but it felt like forever that I just sat there, not knowing how to make myself move.
I clambered off the back, my hands fumbling with my own helmet and my feet struggling to keep the rest of my body upright. I tripped twice on the rough road before I managed to keep myself upright.
My helmet hung from my hands and Eagle rushed over the second he got the bike on its stand. His gloved hands gripped my face as he forced me to look up at him. “Are you okay?” he asked, his words rushed.
I nodded. “Something hit my helmet—”
“My wing mirror,” he answered, his hand lingering on my face a little too long, before turning and sprinting down the road. “Call 911!” he called back over his shoulder. I was confused for a second. Everything was happening so quickly. My eyes followed Eagle as he ran over the road, leaping over a broken fence post and moving toward…
A car.
Sky blue.
Its roof caved in.
A mangled piece of metal.
My brain finally put the pieces together as another car slowed to a stop beside me. An older man rolled down his window, his eyes wide. “Is everything okay?” he asked, looking between me and the destroyed vehicle that Eagle was currently trying to smash the driver’s side window out of.
“Call 911!” I demanded, my body finally feeling the adrenaline rush that you got from near death experiences. I turned and raced toward the paddock, leaping over mounds of grass and tripping in the gouges that the car had left in the soft ground.
The window finally gave way and Eagle reached in, pulling the button lock of the older style car and wrenching the door open. A limp hand fell out of the vehicle, and I gasped as he leaned over the woman and unbelted her before lifting up her body and carrying her from the car.
There was blood, not much, but enough to make me realize this was extremely serious. I followed as he rushed her to the side of the road where there were now three cars stopped and at least five people standing around. The man who had stopped first was still on his cell phone relaying information to someone on the other line.
Eagle lay the young woman on the ground and bent over her, listening for a breath before pressing his fingers against her neck and closing his eyes, searching for a pulse. I saw the tension ease instantly. “Pulse is strong,” he announced, resting back on his knees.
An elderly woman rushed over and placed a quilt over the girl who I now realized looked too young to be much more than a teen.
“It’s smoking!” another man suddenly yelled, pointing at the car in horror. My eyes followed instinctually, and I swore I felt my heart leap into my throat as I realized that from this angle, I could see the sign in the back window of the car.
Baby on board.
“There’s a baby,” I shouted, spinning on my heel, searching for Eagle. He’d gotten to his feet and was now behind me, his hand reaching out as if he’d been searching for me. He wasn’t moving though, his face was pale and his eyes fixated on the wreck, wide and full of panic. I reached out and grabbed his arm, tugging on it hard, trying to bring his attention to me. “There could be a baby in there,” I yelled, trying to drag his mind from this trance he was in.
No luck.
He was frozen, his breathing shallow and I swore he wasn’t even blinking.
He looked completely haunted.
I cursed, turning my body and sprinting toward the smoking car. I had no idea where the smoke was coming from, but I had yet to see flames.
Maybe it’s just steam.