First Love | James Hetfield

Live Fast, Die Young

1983

James slowly faded out of consciousness for a few minutes before stirring awake. All he could hear was air hissing and distant sirens when he opened his eyes and saw the cement walls of a Highway tunnel.

"God.. fuck." He groaned, putting a hand on his head. The adrenaline from his fast driving was still coursing through his body so he couldn't feel the wet dripping down his right arm when he looked over to the passenger side.

The hood of the car was completely crushed, holding his legs firmly at the pedals. The first thing he spotted was the red liquid gushing out of Annie's right thigh, shining from the street lights outside.

"Fuckin' hell.." he muttered, straining to reach over and bump her shoulder. He continued bumping her limp body when he got no response. "Don't fuckin' die on me, Buckley... I swear to god." He said, unbuckling his seatbelt to reach further over the middle console.

"Hey, come on." He said softly. He was really beginning to worry now when he turned her pale face to face him and brushed the hair out of the way. "Annie, come on-" her name rolled right off his tongue. His voice was shaky as were his hands that held her face. "Time to wake up."

He looked up when he saw red and blue flashing and let out a sigh of relief. When he looked back down at the unresponsive girl, he noticed fresh drops of blood on her cheeks. That's when he saw his arm.

"Shit!" He turned his forearm and began actually feeling the pain, but ignored it when he heard indistinct voices and ambulance doors shutting.

"Hey! My- my buddy needs help." He shouted shakily out the shattered window.

One of the paramedics approached the totaled car with a clipboard in her hand and looked between the unconscious body in the passenger side to the man in the drivers seat while one male paramedics went to Annie's side and the other opened his door that luckily still functioned.

"What's your friends name, how old is he?" The woman asked.

"Her names' Annie." He answered. "Anneliese."

The woman blinked at him. "Buckley- Anneliese Buckley. She's uh- eighteen, I think." He wasn't completely sure of her birthdate. She asked him three more questions before the paramedics pulled him out and put him on a stretcher, which he thought was a bit unnecessary.

He stared at the starlit sky. The same sky they had been looking at just an hour ago. Everything was still okay then.

His view eventually switched to the roof of the ambulance and another stretcher was placed beside him. He turned his head, and all the wind was knocked out of him when he saw Annie's hazy brown eyes gazing back at him.

"Shit." His relieved laugh eventually turned into coughing as he felt a sharp pain in his ribs. Annie eventually drifted off again and he couldn't help but worry still.

They soon arrived at the hospital, and Beatrice got word of the accident, as did literally everyone else at the party, including Logan.

"Move, bitch!" Bea barked when Logan took two hundred years to sign them in. He couldn't help his shaky hands. He was horrified at the thought of what they might see when entering Annie's room.

The receptionist told them where the two's rooms were, Cliff and Kirk bolting to James' room while Bea and Logan went to Annie's right next door.

By the time they arrived, the doctors were finished up with the procedure and let them right in after filling them in on the whole thing.

"She has a large laceration on her right thigh that will take about three or four weeks to heal... that is, if the stitches stay intact and she doesn't get an infection." A female nurse informed them. She noticed the horrified expression on Logan's face and spoke up again. "I can assure you, she will be just fine." She nodded with a soft gaze.

"And what about the boy?" Kirk asked impatiently.

"Oh.." her expression changed. "He's doing great." She nodded her head up and down. "Just peachy. See for yourself!" She chirped, smiling and moving aside. Something told them James had probably done or said something to traumatize the poor woman.

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