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I knew that time had passed, I didn't know how much time but I knew it was at least a few hours before I woke next. The first thing I regained was my hearing, I could hear the muffled sound of wind through the trees, the song of wild birds as they said goodbye to the sun for the day. A constant drip, drip, drip of something close by.

The next thing that came to me was the realization that breathing was hard. I felt as though I had some massive weight pressing down on my lungs.

What came to me next was unlike anything else, the pain. It was so all encompassing that I couldn't believe it wasn't the first thing that I had noticed. A strangled howl escaped me at the sudden unrelenting and unbearable pain that assaulted me. My head, my abdomen, my legs.

I forced myself to open my eyes then, I had no idea what had happened to me. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the nearly two inch wide tree limb that had ripped through the wheel well of the car on my side and went straight through my midsection on my right side below my ribs. I let out a shuddering sob as I reached down to touch where the tree entered my body as if to make sure that it was real.

It was. There was blood around the tree where it impaled me but less than I would have thought, I assumed it was holding the wound mostly sealed. I could feel that the tree went straight through my body and into the seat behind me as I was unable to move at all.

I next noticed the angle at which I was in in the car, the car was not sitting flat, the back end of the car was higher up, still partially on the hill behind us. My body was being held suspended facing down slightly, my hair pulled down around my face by gravity. From this position I had a perfect view of my legs.

My legs. They were mangled. Both of them. My side of the car had taken the full brunt of the fallen tree. The dashboard was where my thighs should have been, the sight in front of me was a twisted amalgamation of metal and bone, plastic and flesh. I realized in this moment with a cold certainty that I wasn't leaving this car. There was no way even the most talented of rescuer would be able to free me from this while also keeping me alive.

I was done.

Before I could dwell on this fact and let it completely consume me I remembered that I wasn't alone in this car. I whipped my head to the left to where Charlie sat suspended as I was, hovering forward above the steering wheel of the cruiser. I was able to tell immediately that his legs had fared better than mine. The driver's side had managed to miss the tree mostly though it appeared as though where my air bag had gone off, his hadn't.

I looked up at his unconscious face and saw that rivulets of blood had been pouring off of his forehead at one point as his lap was soaked with blood. Now it was just a steady drip onto his saturated pants. It was hard to gauge his injuries from here; it was hard to even tell if he was alive.

"Dad." I tried to say, my voice a horrible rasp. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Dad!" I said with a bit more power but nothing, he didn't wake, didn't even stir. I was panicking now. Not him too. I thought. He has to survive this.

I reached my left arm towards his chest searching for his beating heart or the rise and fall of his chest that would show he was breathing. The pain this caused was enormous but I forced myself to hold it there and to still the trembling in my arm. I waited there in this position for what felt like minutes but was likely only seconds until I felt his chest slowly push out into my hand and then back. I let out a noise I'd never heard from myself before, a noise of desperate relief.

I tried again "Dad!" this time I dug my knuckles into his sternum and rubbed as roughly as I could from the position I was in. This time I was rewarded with a small groan as I let my arm drop back towards myself from fatigue.

"Dad!" I said again but the volume in my voice was fading and this one came out almost strangled.

I used my left hand to tuck my hair on that side behind my ear and strained to keep looking at him as he let out a soft groan. It was a few seconds before he roused enough to begin to move. He first lifted his right hand slowly up to his still bleeding forehead then pulled it away looking at the blood on his hand. He groaned again and said "Wha?" as he looked up and around at his surroundings. He tried to move his legs but called out in pain as he shifted his right leg.

"Dad." I said again but this time it was more of a harsh whisper, I cleared my throat and tried again "Are you okay?" I said with some success, my voice stronger.

"My leg…" he groaned and then "Ugh… my head!" and brought his hand to his head again.

"I don't think that your airbag went off." I told him trying to keep my voice even "You probably have a concussion, just take it slowly." He probably had a hell of a concussion, I just hoped it was one that he'd be able to function with for now until he was able to get help and get out of here.

"Fuck." He said clutching his head and I could do nothing and say nothing to help so I just sat with him focusing on keeping my breathing even and not looking at myself.

I was fairly sure that I also had a concussion but my airbag had gone off so I doubted it was anything like my dad's. I tried to stay still and quiet so that I didn't hurt his head more.

"Bells?" he asked groggily still looking at his lap.

"Yeah dad." I said in the clearest voice I could muster.

"What happened?" he asked with a slight slur to his speech.

"Elk." I said simply. "We went down a ravine, hit a tree."

He groaned again at this. "Dad, are you okay?" I asked him getting more concerned about his head injury.

"I don't know." He said "It hurts. I don't remember anything."

"Just relax." I told him "You'll be okay, just take it easy."

He must have heard something in my voice then because he finally turned to look at me. His eyes had enough time to register the shock and horror of what I looked like before he passed out again going limp against his seatbelt head angled towards his knees.

I once again checked to see if he was breathing and I continued to feel the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest and breathed a sigh of relief myself. Just passed out. I told myself, concussions need sleep and lots of it.

I looked up from where I sat and out of the front windshield all I could see was the tree and forest floor in front of us to my left I could see the setting sun and to my right just semi dark forest. I was trying to get my bearings The sun sets in the… east? No that's not right… west? Which means I'm facing… south? That didn't seem right to me but I couldn't think why. Definitely concussed. Not that It mattered though, what was I going to do even if I could figure out which way was north?

I let my eyes close and I let myself go limp around the seatbelt, this caused my body to shift slightly and I whimpered from the pain in my stomach, back and the pain in my legs. Even with the impossible pain and the horrible position I was in I still managed to fall asleep quickly.

I woke in the middle of the night to Charlie calling out in pain again. "Dad?" I half slurred half rasped out of my dry throat in my half asleep half concussed stupor.

"Bells? Fuck. What happened?" So a pretty bad concussion then, worse than mine for sure.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"My head and leg hurt, and fuck its cold. What happened?" He said sounding slightly more alert though still not very.

"Car accident, we're okay though. Try to get some more sleep. It will be morning soon." I told him trying to steel myself against the shivers that wanted to wrack my body. I knew shivering would worsen my pain 100 fold.

Charlie didn't say anything after this but I did hear the slow gentle sounds of his breathing as he slept. I allowed myself to relax as well as I could again into the seatbelt that held me suspended and again I began to drift. My mind was racing from thought to thought as I floated in that area in between wakefulness and sleep. I suddenly woke with a start.

"Alice." I breathed. Doubtless she had seen this happen; she was my dad's best bet to get out of here alive, and my only chance to get out of here at all. The only way I was getting out of here was by being changed. I honestly didn't know that I could survive long enough for them to get here and change me, but I had to make sure that my dad made it regardless.

"Alice." I said a little bit louder. Louder so she would hear me but not Charlie "I hit my head… I don't remember exactly where we are. I remember we left the highway and we're in a forest. There was an elk, a huge elk. We swerved, went down a big hill. Hit a tree." I swallowed head dropping down to my chest. "I'm screwed, Alice." I whispered. "I'm not getting out of this one. I don't think you'll make it in time. I'm sorry. I don't know where I am. I'm sorry." I said and tears dropped from my eyes to what was left of my lap.

I had another realization "Alice." I gasped "Don't let him see, don't let him see me like this. You can't let him see…" I drifted into unconsciousness again.

The singing of birds woke me up, this time they heralded the dawn instead of singing farewell. I looked over at Charlie, I could see the rise and fall of his chest now, it looked good, steady. The blood had stopped dripping off of the wound in his head which was another good sign. I then made the mistake of looking at myself in the early morning sun.

The low position of the sun cast shadows off of the tree that impaled me and on my mangled legs that made them look more horrific. My blood looked black in this lighting and I could see it shine in the sun, there was definitely more today than there was last night. My stomach was wet with it too. "Dad." I said once, he had to get up today, get out of this car, find a way out of here. No response. "Dad." I said again louder this time. "Charlie!" I ended up half shouting with all the energy I can muster after he failed to respond again.

His breathing hitched and he groaned clutching his head once more and squeezing his eyes shut. "Can you hear me?" I asked him and he groaned again before saying "Yes. I wish I couldn't." he grumbled "My head."

"I'm sorry." I said to him "I know that your head hurts but this is important and I need you to listen to me." Saying this many words had exhausted me and knocked the wind out of me. I was pretty sure that the tree was putting pressure on my lungs among my other internal organs. Who knew what it had pierced. I pushed that thought away.

"You need to get out of this car, you need to find help. You will die down here if you don't. Do you understand?" I said to him, my voice beginning to fail me by the end of that speech.

"Bella?" he asked me concern colouring his voice. "What's going on?" he asked still rubbing his head.

"Car accident. In the middle of nowhere. No one knows where we are." I told him in shorter more manageable sentences.

"Car accident." He mused quietly thinking about it.

"Yes and you have a bad concussion. And a hurt leg." I told him.

"I don't remember…" he said still not looking up.

"I know." I sighed "Concussion." After a minute I told him "I need you to stay awake now, please Dad." I think that my desperation came through in my voice then and pierced his confusion.

"Bella?" he asked again, this time looking over to me for the first time since he passed out. His breath caught in his chest this time but thankfully he stayed conscious. "Bella." He whispered this time.

"I know." I whispered back, tears welling in my eyes "I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say. What else can you say when someone's only child is impaled through their stomach and trapped in a car.

His eyes roved over me for a long while, tears coming to his eyes as well and immediately spilling over. "It's okay Dad, it's okay." All he could do was slowly shake his head no and wince slightly as he did this at the pain in his head.

"I don't… I can't-" he got cut off as his voice got caught in his throat, choking him.

"I need you to do something for me." I told him slowly hoping to talk him out of his stupor.

"Anything." He breathed.

"I need you to get out of the car." I told him and he seemed to shake himself.

"Of course." He nodded and wiped at his eyes. He looked around himself then and took stock of his surroundings briefly before his eyes found their way back to my body.

"Dad." He looked up at me "You need to not look at me, it's the only way you will be able to stay focussed."

He looked away "Right." He sniffed and looked around himself again.

"You need to get your seatbelt off, but you will have to brace yourself first. Use your left leg, your right one is hurt." He stretched his leg out after I said this and groaned in pain. "You okay?" I asked him, concerned.

He looked at me again, eyes lingering on my stomach before he nodded, looked me in the eyes and said "I'm fine."

I really needed that to be true, I was beginning to reach a point where I couldn't be the strong one for us. I was becoming weak from blood loss and lack of oxygen. The pain was taking up almost every waking thought and I was starting to feel sick. I watched Charlie as he braced his left foot against the floorboard by the brake pedal and released his seatbelt. To my immense relief he didn't fall, just slipped out of his seat until he was half standing half leaning against the seat. He hissed in pain and held a hand to his head.

"You okay?" I asked him again after a minute. Again he looked, at me, steeled himself, said he was fine then began working to get himself out of the car. "Dad, you're hurt. You really injured your head. You need to move slowly and take breaks. Plus I think your leg might be broken judging by the sounds you've been making."

"I'm fine, Bella." He said in a stronger voice, this time not looking at me. He raised himself back up so he was half sitting in his chair and the turned himself to the left. He was thankfully able to open his door and he went to climb out.

"Try to jump down only onto your left leg, Dad." I warned him not wanting him to turn a simple fracture into a much worse break. He didn't answer just looked down. "How far is it?" I asked wondering about the distance to the forest floor.

"Not far." He said and after a brief hesitation he dropped himself down where he landed I assumed in a crumpled heap as I could no longer see him. I did, however, hear him cry out from the pain.

"Dad!" I called out trying to sit up further, but this caused me to slide backwards on the tree impaling me and it was my turn to call out in pain. I slumped back down on it and felt a rush of blood pour from the wound before it must have become sealed again.

"Bells?" He called out and I could hear the rustling of plants and twigs snapping as he rose to his feet to peer back in through the open door. "Bella?" he called to me again.

All I could do was give a breathy "I'm okay." as my lungs desperately pulled oxygen back into my body. I sat there slumped over the tree unable to look up or move at all as all of my energy was put into pulling breath into my lungs.

"I'm coming." He said and I heard him crash through the undergrowth and the front of the car. There was a soft curse then his footsteps sounded further away. I assumed he was walking around the tree we had crashed into. I next heard a quiet sliding noise of fabric over tree bark and a soft thud as he hit the ground, this was met with a curse. Not around, but over. I thought to myself. I didn't have the breath or energy at this point to ask after him.

He was up again shortly after this, making more noise as he walked through plants and old brittle sticks. His blood stained face was at my door in a minute and he pulled on the door handle, it didn't budge. "Is it locked?" He asked me and I managed to force myself to look over to the lock on the door, it was up. I shook my head no then slumped back against the seat belt.

Another oath. More rustling, this time to the back of the car and around to the drivers side again eventually. I assumed he crawled under the gap made by the end of the car on the hill and the front against the tree.

"You still with me?" he asked and he was beginning to sound much more like himself. I nodded still not daring to move, still recovering from the horrible onslaught of pain. "Good, don't fall asleep on me, I need you to stay awake." I nodded again not seeing myself falling asleep in this position any time soon.

"I have tools in the trunk." He told me. "I'm going to grab some and work on getting your door open."

"Okay." I said quietly still trying to regulate my breathing, not sure what his plan was after he got the door open. I wondered if he had seen past the tree through my stomach to my legs. If he had, he'd know getting me out alive would be impossible.

He reached through the open driver's side door and pulled the trunk release which blessedly popped open. "I'll be right back." He said to me and I nodded starting to regain some composure. I heard him walk to the back of the car and rummage around in the trunk pulling out something that sounded metallic. He was at my door a few moments later making a whole lot of metal on metal noises. I looked over to see that he had a crowbar that he was using to try to pry my door open. The sound of it was hurting my head, and I knew if it was hurting mine then his had to be on fire.

I relaxed my head down and let him work on the door for a while. The noises began to get louder and a breeze started picking up through the cab which made me realize that he was beginning to have success. After about ten minutes he made his way back to the driver's side door, I looked up at him and could see that he was looking pale and sweaty, not a good combo.

"How are you doing Bells?" he asked me, out of breath.

"I'm fine." I said raising my head up for the first time in a while, it felt as though it had become much heavier, my neck was also becoming very sore from being forced into flexion for so long. "You look awful. You need to rest."

"I'm okay." He said, then added "Really, I've almost got the door open, it's really crushed." I nodded at him "Just a bit longer, okay?" he said.

A bit longer until what? I nodded anyway.

He started making more headway now with the whole door starting to move. He got the entire head of the crowbar in the interior of the car and pushed against it with all he was worth. The door was too crumpled to pop open but it did crunch open an inch allowing Charlie to get his hands inside of it.

Charlie pulled with all he was worth and managed to get it open a few more inches. He then put his body against the rear passenger side and used his arm to push it the rest of the way open using his body as leverage. I guessed that my right leg had had the door shoved into it and as he pushed the door open it pulled out of my leg and I cried out. I felt the warm gush of blood and felt my leg shift slightly. I stifled down any further sounds of pain and shut my eyes tight against it. I had been managing to deal with the agony that was my mangled lower half but it was now an all encompassing pain.

I could tell that he froze as he pushed the door the rest of the way open. This confirmed that he hadn't noticed my legs until this moment. I looked up at him as he quickly turned away, just managing to walk a few paces before he vomited in the bushes. "I'm sorry." He said between bouts of vomiting. When he was done he was on his hands and knees facing away from me. His shoulders shook in what I assumed were tears.

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