“Kalin! Kalin!” I scream his name, but he is unconscious. I squirm toward my purse spilled out across the roof, and search for my phone. I glance back at Kalin, his body suspended by the seat belt, his head dangling lifelessly. I am sobbing and trembling, and my heart is pounding in my ears. “Kalin! Oh, my God! Kalin!” I reach for my phone, my hand shaking, and dial 911.
“911, what is your emergency.”
“A truck rammed us on the highway. They were trying to kill us!”
“Ma’am, I need you to calm down and tell me where you are.”
“I don’t know. We’re upside down in the car off an embankment. Kalin is bleeding. He needs an ambulance. Please. Can’t you find the coordinates from the phone or something?”
“No, ma’am. We need to know where you were when you went off the road.”
“We left East Hampton heading to Southampton. We’re on Highway 92, I’m guessing about fifteen miles between East Hampton and Southampton.” I begin to cry. Kalin is bleeding more profusely now. “Please. The driver is bleeding badly. We need an ambulance.” I’m hysterical now.
“Ma’am, I need you to calm down. Are there any landmarks, distinguishing signs or addresses— anything that will help the paramedics find you?”
“I don’t know. I’m in the vehicle, upside down.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Can you feel your fingers and your toes?”
“Yes.”
“Can you move without any pain?”
“Yes. I think I’m okay.” I run my hand over my forehead and feel warmth. My hand is covered in blood. “I’m fine. What do I need to do?”
“Make sure the ignition is turned off. If it’s safe for you to do so, get out of the vehicle and get to the road. Find something to tell us where you are.”
I reach over Kalin’s slumped shoulder and turn the ignition off. I cannot get out from the front, and wriggle to the back of the vehicle. I reach down and unlatch the back, push open the hatch with my legs, and manage to squirm out onto the grass.
“Okay, I’m out.” I climb up the embankment and find a mailbox. “509. 509 Highway 92. Please, hurry.” I kneel on the ground and begin to cry.
“Ma’am, do not move the driver or enter the vehicle. We have an ambulance and fire crew on the way. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I sob.
I walk around the vehicle to Kalin’s side. What I see is more than I can take. The entire side is bashed in and angled into Kalin’s crumpled body. I approach the broken window. “Kalin! Kalin! Oh, my God! Kalin! Please!” Kalin’s head hangs limply upside down against his crumpled shoulders, and blood is all over the car. I sink to the ground next to him, crying and confused. His head is bleeding badly. “Kalin, goddamnit, answer me!” Tears are streaming down my face, and I taste a mix of tears and blood on my tongue.
Chapter Fifteen
When the paramedics arrive, Kalin is still unconscious and bleeding badly from his side. The firemen arrive on the scene and use hydraulic cutters to cut off the driver’s side door. The paramedics check Kalin’s breathing and pulse, and place a neck brace around him before putting him on a stretcher. “Is he alive?” I ask through trembling lips and tears.
“He’s unresponsive, Miss.”
I place my hand over his. “Kalin, I’m here. Please wake up. Please. Just wake up.”
He is completely unresponsive. “Kalin,” I breathe through trembling lips.
“Please clear this area, Miss,” one of the paramedics commands.
I feel a lump in my throat as Kalin lies lifelessly on the stretcher.
“What hospital is he going to?” I wipe my eyes, now drenched.
“Southampton.” The paramedics secure his neck and back on the stretcher.
“I need to get there too.”
Another paramedic walks toward me from the ambulance. “Were you the passenger, Miss?”
“Yes.”
“We need to check for any neck and back injuries.”
“Sure. But I need to get to the hospital.”
The paramedic shines a light in my eyes to check the reaction of my pupils. He presses around my back and neck. “Do you feel any pain?”
“No.”
The paramedic checks my arms and a small abrasion on my face. “You will need to have those wounds checked out. Another ambulance will be here shortly.”
As the paramedic speaks, two police cars, one marked and one unmarked, pull to the side of the road about fifty feet from the top of the bank where the SUV careened off. Another police car swerves back and forth to warn any oncoming drivers of the hazard, while an officer follows on foot, placing flares on the road about five hundred feet from the accident. I fold my arms and one of the officers approaches me.