Bend in the Road
By Dana Keylits
She could see the flames licking the low canopy of trees as the expansive Rolls Royce came to the bend in the road. She was alone in the backseat, the very backseat where, hours ago they should have been curled around each other as they made their getaway to the airport, headed for their honeymoon on a private island in the Maldives.
Before the car could even come to a complete stop, she'd quickly opened the door and swung one foot to the dusty gravel road that seemed to be rolling beneath them, carelessly scuffing the bottom of her expensive three-inch heeled shoe.
No one was doing anything, they were all just standing around - paramedics, police, and firefighters suited up for a three-alarm blaze but standing like slackjawed spectators on the side of the road, watching the car burn, watching him burn. She approached the accident feeling as though the world had suddenly slowed on its axis in spite of the rapid hammering of her heart, the thundering rush of blood through her veins.
She felt her mouth hang open and when she realized she'd been holding her breath, inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the toxic smoke that lingered in the air like an early morning mist, making her dizzy and disoriented.
She tripped on the hem of her mothers wedding dress, not even aware that she'd ripped it, as she hurried to the edge of the country road. She could barely feel the heat of the flames as they engulfed Castles silver Mercedes.
As she stood there in stunned horror, watching the flames rising angrily, singeing the surrounding brush and low hanging branches of the unfortunate trees that found themselves in the path of destruction, the only thought in her traumatized mind was, 'He just bought that car.'
Which, as it should, sounded completely absurd and materialistic and she was immensely grateful that no one could read her thoughts.
He's not in there, she told herself, he's not in there, he's not in there, he's not in there. As though saying it enough times, like a chant, a prayer, a litany to whatever God could save him, would make it true. But, when the wind kicked up and cleared the smoke, shifting the upward path of flames to an almost comical sideways tilt, as though they were suddenly breaking into an interpretive dance, her bloodshot eyes shifted to the dark form in the front seat.
No.
No, no, no, no, no. It wasn't him. It couldn't be him.
She looked up, as though maybe he'd developed superpowers and had managed to leap through the sunroof and was looking down on all of them with an amused grin, his eyes shining and crinkled, as blue as the sky at its brightest hour, wondering how long it would take them to notice that he was standing in the high branches of the huge tree. She looked left, and then right, felt the tears begin to sting her hazel eyes and then stream down her face in haphazard patterns like some macabre river of grief, noticing, for the first time, that she had balled her fingers into such tight fists that rivulets of blood were running down her hands.
She couldn't feel the pain of them, couldn't feel the scorching heat from the car, so hot that even the milling firefighters hadn't approached. She couldn't feel anything, nothing, not even the pain of possibility that Castle was...
No, it wasn't him.
She couldn't fathom a wold, no, a universe, in which Castle wasn't in it. It simply wasn't possible. It couldn't be allowed.
She became vaguely aware of the increased din of hurried voices, and wondered what the gasps and murmurs were about. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? Why weren't they putting out the flames? Why was there suddenly so much chatter? She was about to cover her ears and scream, or cry, or curse with the bravado of an invading soldier, when she heard the footsteps behind her, felt the familiar presence, and then...
"Kate?"
The End.
A/N: I swore to myself that I wasn't going to do this. I wasn't going to write a 6X23 insert or post-ep, since I really had nothing to add to that ending (of which I know I am in the minority for actually liking!). But, I woke up with this drabble insisting it get told, so, well, I did it. I hope you liked it. And, I hope you're not too angry with me for that ending. ;-) It just begged to be told that way.
Thank you so much for reading.
-dk