Will kept a one-handed grip on the wheel as we drove to school together later that morning, the other hand gripping mine. I'd hastily put some concealer under my eyes to ward off the questions and concern that would surely arise when Skye saw me. "Are you sure you want to go back so soon?" His voice was soft, but I felt the worry radiating from him as clearly as I felt the knot in my stomach.

He shot me a fleeting glance out of the corner of his eye before quickly returning his attention to the road ahead of him. The traffic was light so early in the morning, but neither of us had been—nor would we ever be—careless drivers.

He didn't remove his hand from mine as he waited for me to answer. When I finally did, my voice was brittle. "I have to. If I don't, I'll stay in your guest room forever, wondering about the relationship—or lack thereof—between Dimitri and my f—"

I had all of one second to take a breath that ended in a shrill scream as Will shouted my name, jerking the wheel to the left and swerving sharply. "Malia!"

Everything turned sideways, then flipped upside down as his truck tilted dangerously onto two wheels before flipping over several times. The seatbelt seared my arm and shoulder as it pulled taut, pressed into my collarbone, and cut a gash into my neck. My head slammed into the roof of the truck before colliding with the headrest hard enough that I saw stars in my vision.

I heard a loud crunch followed by screeching metal before glimpsing sparks out of the corner of my eye. Squeezing my eyes shut, I clamped my mouth closed to avoid any bits of glass from the broken windows and/or gravel from the road as my hair whipped wildly around my face. I heard Will grunt beside me but didn't dare try to look at him.

When the truck finally came to a jarring halt, tipping onto its side on the asphalt, I cried out as the impact forced the right side of my body against the passenger side door. The seatbelt's odd angle—slicing into my neck as the leather strangled my midsection—elicited sharp, burning pain wherever it touched my skin.

My throbbing head was cockeyed, my neck bent just enough to make it painful. I swallowed rapidly to quell the nausea rising inside me, not daring to move a muscle until the world finally stopped spinning. I dimly registered the faint scent of burned rubber and asphalt, having all of a second to brace myself before the airbags deployed.

The cornstarch-scented airbag, combined with the smell of burned rubber and asphalt, made me start dry-heaving. The sound of the bags deflating and the ticking of the engine as it cooled were muffled as a faint, yet sharp ringing started in my ears. I had to remain perfectly still for several moments. Inhaling slowly was all I could do until the dizzying whirl of shock and pain in my mind finally ebbed, allowing just enough clarity for me to grasp a tangled thought.

Will. I dared a glance to my left, my heart stopping as I heard a faint groan. His eyes were closed, but I saw him stir, wincing in pain as he did. Blood poured down his face from a gushing wound on his temple, but he was breathing and conscious. I licked my lips, swallowing again before trying to speak. "W—Will. C—can you..."

I trailed off, my eyelids fluttering closed as pain- and adrenaline-fueled shock threatened to send me into unconsciousness. I sucked in a sharp breath when I felt his fingertips barely brush against my own. His eyes flickered open; he smiled weakly as he glimpsed me, yet didn't speak as his eyes shut once more a heartbeat later.

Noises from outside the truck made me open my eyes again, but I had to blink several times to clear my blurry vision. Faint voices drifted in and out of my ears—loud and quiet, deep and soft.

"Hey! Can... hear me?"

"We're... get you two out, just hang... there!"

"Yell if you... hear me!"

A loud, pained grunt was the only reply Will could muster without moving or opening his eyes again. I blinked again, barely managing to stifle a startled cry as a worried face appeared sideways outside the truck window.

My throbbing head and the truck's awkward angle made thinking essentially impossible, but I eventually managed to decipher the emblem and the name on the man's uniform. NOFD. New Orleans Fire Department. Brandon Decker.

Brandon flashed me a gentle smile before speaking, his voice drifting in and out of my ears just as the others had. "Hang... there, you two. We're gonna... you out." He pulled his head back and shouted something to someone I couldn't see. "Hey! Bring... Jaws of Life over here now!"

My heart stopped, then started again at twice its normal pace. I flinched when the firefighters used the hydraulic rescue tool to cut away the smashed-in passenger side door that had partially crushed the right side of my body. A shrill, painful scream escaped my lips as the tension and pressure from the door pinning my right arm to the door suddenly vanished.

I went limp as the door itself was pulled off the truck, baring my sweat-soaked body to the chilled morning air. The sleeve of my shirt was soaked through with blood, and I cried out as I tried to move.

My entire arm—from shoulder to fingertips—was numb. Will was speaking, but I was having trouble focusing. "It's okay... Breathe, Lia," he was saying, his voice weak. "Just... just take slow deep breaths."

I risked another glance at him a heartbeat before Brandon reappeared, spotting more injuries that I hadn't seen the first time I'd glimpsed his face. Cuts from the windows' glass and bruises from the airbags marred Will's forehead and cheeks; one eye was swollen shut, the other not far behind.

Will spoke again, and the sudden urgency in his voice spurred me to try to move. "We have... have to get out. Malia, he's trying... trying to get you out." My neck screamed in pain as I followed his gaze and saw Brandon reaching into the truck to pull me out. Coughing, I fell into the latter's arms, trembling from terror, shock, and pain. Will crawled out behind me a heartbeat after I did and collapsed on the ground beside me, coughing loudly.

Brandon gently set me on the ground beside the car, calling out to someone I couldn't see. Through blurred vision, I caught a glimpse of a hazy figure fleeing the crash scene. Keeping my eyes open was a struggle, but a heartbeat before I closed them, I saw the man's face as he cast a fleeting glance back at the accident.

"No." The word was a push of breath, barely audible, but once it was out, I couldn't stop. I began repeating the word over and over—shouting it, screaming it—as if it would become true if I said it aloud. "NO NO NO NO NO!"

Another blurry face appeared above mine, a woman's sympathetic eyes scanning my face as Brandon had done. Her voice drifted in and out of my ears as my breathing grew panicked and sharp. "Malia, I need you... Do you have..."

I heard one of the other firefighters speak to Will as he bent down beside him, but I couldn't make out the words. My entire body ached, and I was exhausted. I shut my eyes, hoping it would beat back the spinning and throbbing in my head. When I opened them again, we were in the ambulance, and Will was strapped to a wheeled gurney beside me, identical to the one to which I was strapped.

Brandon's face appeared above mine a moment later, his eyes kind as he looked at me. "Can... tell... your name?" I saw his mouth moving, but struggled to follow the words. I took a deep breath, wincing in pain before trying to speak.

"Ma...Malia A...Abbott." My voice was hoarse, distorted, and muted in my ears. I lifted a numb hand and weakly pointed a trembling finger to Will beside me. "That... that's... my... boyfriend... Will. Will... Callahan." Every word took more effort than it should; breathing felt like sipping air through a straw. Lights flashed behind my eyes as my head began pounding again.

Brandon looked in the direction I had pointed, nodding. "Don't... Malia. We're gonna... you and Will... up, okay?"

I nodded faintly and didn't fight it when unconsciousness beckoned to me with open arms, a fog swallowing everything as my eyes fluttered shut. When I opened my eyes again, I couldn't feel my right arm. My abdomen ached and burned, flickers of fire flaring up inside me as I took slow, shallow breaths. 

My aching head struggled to determine where I was and what had happened to me. Grogginess had overpowered my senses, leaving me muddled and dazed. I wasn't in the ambulance anymore; I was in a hospital room. Liv and Skye sat in chairs beside the bed, tearstained faces pale and drawn.

A weak groan slipped from my lips, and both young women flinched as they turned towards me. Skye let out a sob while Liv covered her mouth as she gasped. The latter stood in a rush, nearly knocking over her chair as she surged for the door.

My aching head protested as my eyes followed the movement, and Skye shook her head as she squeezed my hand. Her voice was a broken rasp, every other word a stutter as she spoke through tears. "Don't w-worry. She's g-going to t-tell Mrs. C-Callahan that y-you're awake. G-go slow; y-you've been o-out for h-hours."

Her voice broke off as she tearfully shook her head. "Malia... The d-doctors told u-us that i-if the E-EMTs hadn't g-gotten you o-out when t-they did, y-your arm w-would have h-had to b-be amputated."

At Skye's words, images and sounds flickered through my mind, and I had to focus to decipher them: shouting. Screaming. The fleeting feeling of weightlessness followed by intense agony. The ache of the seatbelt pulling taut and searing my arm and shoulder before pressing into my collarbone and slicing into my neck. The jarring impact as the right side of my body was crushed against the truck door.

I heard my voice in my head as I spoke, the word stretching out until I was screaming and shouting it. "'NO NO NO NO NO!'"

A broken sob cracked from me when the enormity of what had happened slammed into me as violently as my body had been crushed against the car door. I cried out, then began sobbing uncontrollably as a flash of memory sliced through my head like the shards of glass that had pierced Will's forehead and cheeks. I saw a man running away from the crash scene. When he cast a fleeting glance back at the accident...

I watched alarm fill Skye's eyes as she turned toward the door and began shouting for help. Julie rushed inside, alerted by my cries. She was at my side in a heartbeat, smoothing my sweaty hair off my forehead and speaking softly to me. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm here. I'm here." The sound of my sobs was swallowed up as she gently pulled me against her, stroking my hair.

I began to shake as heart-wrenching, broken sobs ripped from my body. Too many emotions—pain, confusion, shock, anger, resentment—were colliding with the agony of the injuries from the wreck. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't focus. Couldn't think.

"Will," I rasped, tears sliding down my temples and into my hair. "W-where's Will?"

Julie's breath caught as she swiped at her face. "Liv's with him. He suffered minor cuts from the windshield glass, bruises from the airbags, and a mild concussion, but he's expected to make a full recovery. They're going to keep him overnight for observation, but barring any unforeseen complications, he'll be released tomorrow." When she glanced at Skye, I saw unspoken words that I couldn't decipher pass between them.

My heartbeat sped up, terror gripping my insides and squeezing tightly. There was something they weren't telling me. Something bad.

"What?" My voice was shrill, and it was only when Skye leaned toward me that I realized I was edging toward hysteria. "What is it? What happened to Will?" I heard rapid beeping from the machines beside my bed and knew I needed to calm down, but couldn't.

Julie tried for a smile, but it faltered as quickly as it appeared. "Nothing. Everything is fine. Will is fine." I swallowed as I saw her hands begin to tremble.

Skye opened her mouth to speak again, but froze upon hearing the latter's voice come from outside the room, rough and weak. "M-Malia?"

I couldn't stop the sob that broke from my chest as Will's pain-fogged eyes locked on mine. Liv's face was pale, but her lips stretched into a strained smile as she looked at me. I looked at Will again, but frowned upon seeing his brows knitted in concern. I saw the pain in his expression, but I sensed another emotion beneath it: sorrow.

He swallowed hard as he entered the room, Liv and Julie both lunging to support him when he unsteadily approached me. Skye stood a heartbeat before Will's legs gave out, and he collapsed into the chair she'd vacated.

I waited until he caught his breath before reaching for him with my good hand. He clutched it with his own, lifting my fingers to his cheek. "I was so worried about you." His voice was rough and hoarse as he spoke.

My voice cracked as I began to speak; when I took a trembling breath, I couldn't hold back the tears that flowed down my cheeks. "What happened? No one will tell me anything. Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?"

Once again, I was a breath away from hysteria. Will exchanged wordless glances with Skye, Liv, and Julie before the latter nodded. When the former looked back at me, I shook my head—kept shaking my head until I felt dizzy. "No."

If I kept denying it, if I didn't say it aloud, then it wouldn't be true.

"No." The word was a broken rasp, a desperate plea.

I knew in the weeks and months that followed I'd try to determine what led to the crash, but I never would have guessed the outcome. No one could have. We could have worked with the police on every bit of the case, and still wouldn't have guessed who was responsible.

"I'm so sorry, Malia." Will pulled me against him as Julie had done earlier, holding me tightly as though he could keep me from shattering.

As though he could keep me from breaking into a million pieces. But I was already broken. I had been long before the wreck. And I knew, despite their best efforts, no one would be able to put me back together again.