The Thing About Timing (The Becoming of Elliott Goode)

Chapter 32

Ringing was the first thing Elliott heard when she came to, her face smashed up against an airbag. She was disoriented, and all she could feel was pain, from her arm, her chest, her face, everywhere. Why are my ears ringing? What happened? She felt the shards of broken glass under her hands as she opened and closed her eyes, everything hazy in her vision as she tried to pull herself up from her slumped position, holding in a scream when her right hand refused to bear any weight. The radio was still playing, that god awful country song, and suddenly everything came back to her: Cordelia yelling, going for ice cream, David putting the hat on her head, the headlights. She quickly pulled herself up and looked around, hearing the shards of glass make a twinkling sound as they fell to the pavement outside of the car. David. Where's David?

She looked over at the driver's seat and saw nothing, not even a trace that someone had been there, which only caused her to panic. I need to get out of here. She whipped her head around to the passenger door, reaching over with her good arm to pull the lock and try to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. No. No. NO. Elliott turned her body as best she could and kicked, bracing herself against the center counsel until the door finally came free, crawling out of the car and onto the pavement. She was still disoriented, everything hazy and dreamlike, and as she tried to stand she felt incredibly dizzy, so she settled for crawling. Her face was wet and sticky, and she reached her hand up to where the pain in her head was, coming back with a handful of blood. Shit.

She refocused on finding David, although truth be told she really hoped she wouldn't. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt, and based on him not being in the car, he probably wasn't even alive at this point, but she had to swallow her fear down, it was the only way she was going to get through it. I need to call 911. Where is my phone? No find David first, then your phone.

It didn't take very long to find him, he was about three feet in front of the front of the car, face down, not moving. Elliott's heart stopped and she thought she might be sick, but she forced herself to get it together, crawling over to him and trying to flip him over, noticing the blood that coated his face. She tried to shake him, but there was no response. She felt a wave of panic wash over her as she tried to feel for a pulse, but truthfully she didn't know exactly where to look. She probed his neck praying to feel something, anything, as she watched his chest to see if he was breathing, but he wasn't. This isn't happening, not again. Elliott started sobbing as she leaned over him, praying. Please bring him back. I'll do anything, just please bring him back. She let out a deep breath as she heard another car pull up to the scene, getting out and calling the police, but she didn't care. He was gone, her best friend was gone. She shut her eyes and willed it all to go away as she got lightheaded, then suddenly she felt the limp body beneath her move, but only slightly. It was enough to make her open her eyes and look down, David's eyes fluttering as she let out a strangled laugh, hearing ambulance sirens in the distance. "It's ok, you're ok. Just stay still."

Meanwhile, back at the house, Cordelia and Misty were still in the exact same position as earlier, waiting for the teens to get home. "Where are they? Shouldn't they be back by now?" Cordelia asked, frustrated and antsy. Elliott and David had been gone for three hours, the time far past when any of the ice cream shops in town would be open.

"She was pretty upset, I'm sure she just didn't want ta come back so they went somewhere else for a while. They'll be back soon." Misty answered, although she was antsy herself. The girls had all come back and were already in bed, and she knew Cordelia was itching to talk to Elliott, tapping her fingers on the counter in an unfiltered rhythm.

"Maybe it's time to think of a curfew." Cordelia said, "Who goes out for ice cream for three hours?"

"Pissed off kids." Misty answered, causing the supreme to throw a glare at her. "Dee, I'm sorry, but ya yelled at her. I wouldn't want ta come home either."