Chapter 2: Reawakening

Johnny woke up with more than his car shattered. The young man was sprawled all over the pavement, pieces of debris surrounding him and creating a maze he was in no state to navigate. His body broken and mind not far behind, all he could bring himself to do was crawl. To where, he had no clue, but all he could hope to do was find Amber, and through her, some hope that this nightmare would end.

Unbeknownst to Johnny, as he crawled along the wreckage, his body began to heal. The leg he could not move began to listen to him, his arm that could only drag began to pull, and his spirit that was formally in tatters found the will to stand, and forge on. He was too focused on Amber to wonder why.

As his crawl turned into a limp, and from a limp to a jog and eventually sprint, the man's frantic search was hastened by the sounds of sirens. Was he too late? If rescue crews had managed to find them this far removed from civilization, then he must have been unconscious for a while, long enough Amber might be...

He cried out for her. His pain and sorrow drove him, pushed him harder than he had ever pushed himself before. He ignored the aches and pains of his body, lifting impossibly large pieces of scrap metal aside to find his one and only.

As luck would have it, he did find her. But she was in a state no man should ever have to see. Her body was limp, eyes dark and unresponsive. It was harrowing, if not for the adrenaline flowing through Johnny's veins. He lifted up the unrelenting weight that had pinned her to the ground and dragged her out from it, only beginning to notice her condition when he sat down to breathe.

He said her name. No response. He touched her cheek, trying to elicit a physical reaction. Her body remained stiff. He started to panic. It couldn't be.

His throat tightened, his hands went cold, and his eyes welled up with tears. He didn't know what to do. He could hear emergency responders moving towards them, but if she wasn't responding to him, what hope did they have? He called to her again and again, louder each time, practically begging her to give him any sign of life.

The emergency responders, surely hearing the man's cries and following the sound, were quick to asses the situation. Johnny was fine, but Amber... Johnny could only watch in anguish as he saw one of the crew members check for a pulse and shake his head solemnly. When another one tried to sit down and talk to Johnny, all he could do was focus on the feeling of Amber's hand in his. The EMT was speaking, but all Johnny could hear was a dull ringing noise. He wasn't truly there in that moment.

As the EMT stood, the look of pity on his face evident, Johnny could only hang his head and sob. This was his fault. If he hadn't taken his eyes off the road, driven so recklessly... Amber would still be...

He couldn't bear to finish the thought. Deep down he knew, but he didn't want to admit it. It would truly break him.

When the EMT came back over, surrounded by other response teams in uniforms Johnny couldn't recognize, the EMT told him that he needed to come with them, and that Amber's body would be recovered later. He took another look back at her, his eyes incapable of producing more tears, and went to stand.

But he felt a squeeze on his hand

He looked down and saw what shouldn't have been possible. Her hand, one that had been stiff and unresponsive but ten minutes ago, was wrapped around his. Weakly, but unmistakably. Before he could even register what this truly meant, the EMT had taken a knee beside her and began to assist her, Johnny unflinchingly staying at her side.

All Johnny could think about in this moment was "I will never take this woman and her life for granted again."