Chapter 1

"Thank you Erica for giving me a ride. I could have called a cab though." David told her not happy she was driving him around in this weather.

"It's the least I could do for you, you know. You come all the way out here and meet me when I call." She replied.

"I would do anything for you Erica, including driving 15 miles out of town so that your husband doesn't know you are having sex with me." He teased knowing she hated talking about their affair out loud.

"Would you stop talking like that?" She said, his all too casual attitude annoying her.

"Like what? Like your husband is so bad in bed that you call me up and tell me to meet you out of town three nights a week to satisfy you. Like that?" He said loving the fact that she was embarrassed at his words, even though they were the only two there.

Taking her hand off the wheel for a second, she hit him in the chest. "You are such a jerk. I don't know why I even bother with you."

"You didn't have a problem with me an hour ago when you were screaming my name." He spat, knowing it would be his final shot at her if he didn't want to walk home.

"I can't believe I ever loved you." She let out in a stuttering, frustrating breath before she was able to process what she was saying.

"You what?" He asked, thinking he hadn't heard her correctly.

"Nothing. It was a slip of the tongue." She brushed him off hoping he hadn't really heard her.

"I could have sworn you put love and me in the same sentence." He half asked still not sure if that is what she said.

"Well I didn't so if we could just have a quiet rest of the ride that would be nice." She said trying to change the subject and concentrate on getting rid of him and getting home.

"Fine. I guess I'll just enjoy the ride home then, quietly." He mocked, looking out his window.

She wasn't going to say anything further. She didn't want to hear his arrogant voice mocking her slip of the tongue because that's what it was, a slip of the tongue. She was in love with Jackson Montgomery, her husband. She didn't really consider what she and David were doing as cheating per se. She couldn't get what she needed in bed so she sought out someone who could. I did say loved, as in past tense. That was before I married Jack. That was when I thought I was in love with him, that we were in love. It was years later and they'd both moved on. Even if he didn't she did.

David was going to ask her what she saw in Jack, he wanted to know why she was with him when she had to cheat on him to feel whole. He didn't even get out his first word when he saw the headlights. He hadn't even got to warn her that they were on a collision course with another vehicle before they collided. She was thinking about her reasoning for what she was doing and had tuned out long enough to not notice the lights in her face. There wasn't even any time for her to react, to swerve before they hit each other.

Another car had hit them head on. Their car spun a few times and came to a stop, passenger side against a tree. David regained consciousness first, vaguely remembering they had most likely hit another car. He looked over at Erica immediately checking to make sure she was there, that she was okay.

"Erica" He called trying to see if she was responsive. He could see her stirring a little as she regained consciousness. "Erica, can you hear me?" He called again, not able to move to her, his own body pinned by the car.

"David" She responded weakly.

"I'm right here Erica. Do you know what happened?" He asked trying to find out her level of alertness.

"There was a car" she said, finally regaining full consciousness.

"Are you in any pain?" He asked, continuing his patient assessment.

There was a knock on the car door that startled them both. It was a young man. Probably the driver of the other car he thought.

"Are you guys okay?" The man asked, "I called 911, they should be here soon."

"I think we are both okay here. Are you sure you're okay? No pain in your neck or head?" David responded, concerned for the welfare of the other driver.

Erica was moving to take her seatbelt off when she noticed his blue shirt was covered in red blood. "David you're bleeding."

"It's probably just some cuts from the glass." He thought looking down at his shirt to see what she was talking about. He saw the nearly 10 inch diameter of the growing bloodstain and the metal sticking from his abdomen that was responsible.

She also noticed the metal that he was impaled on and it scared her. She hadn't ever seen so much blood, not since Chris Stamp was shot. She looked up at David's face, thinking his facial expression would give away how serious it really was. She could tell it was serious. His face was almost completely white which she knew meant he had lost a lot of blood.

What the hell? I should be in pain, lots of pain. But I'm not. It must be the adrenaline. If I don't stop bleeding soon, I am going die and I can't do that to her, not to Erica. Stay awake. He thought to himself. He knew what he was up against and he was thankful that kid had called 911 already. I just hope they get here in the next few minutes or Erica is going to watch me bleed to death.

She could tell he was thinking about it, going over in his head what this meant for him. She could see his eyes fluttering as he fought to stay conscious. She needed him to stay awake, stay alive. Seeing him like this brought back memories of their accident, that blizzard in `99. He remembered him talking to her, telling her to stay with him and she fought to stay alive. She needed him to do what she did, to fight. "David, David stay with me. You can't do this to me, you can't die on me!" She pleaded, no demanded to him.

He could hear her yelling at him, telling him to fight but he couldn't stay awake any longer. Everything faded to black and he heard nothing else.