Chapter 4: The Accident

Riley sat in a corner of her room sobbing to herself and thinking over what Jeff had said.

"He says it like I just decided to walk away from it. Well in a way he's right. I worked so hard and threw it away. I guess I just caved in. I'm not as strong as I thought..."

It was a warm June night. 18 year old Riley walked onto the track with her helmet under her arm and a chant in her head, 'this is what you've been working for. It's your time.' She looked into the stands and could barely see the crowd through the bright stadium floodlights. She could see her brother cheering her on as she revved up her bike and prepared for the starting gun.

'Well Dad, I guess you have no choice but to watch me now.'

Her father never approved of her riding and even set back her inheritance to the time she got married. He even refused to come to her races knowing the rejection would hurt her.

He tried to place in the back of her mind that no one would be interested in a tomboy. Well she had proven him wrong. She had met a guy in high school named Christopher Daniels. He was very much like her father; lanky, very successes oriented, brown hair, pale, not very athletic, awkward if the term were to be used lightly, and didn't really like Riley riding. He was three and a half years older than Riley and had his life in perfect order. He wanted Riley to quit and get a real job. She supposed she would have to cut back on riding time anyway considering she'd be majoring in journalism at NC State in the fall. Then again knowing Christopher he'd want her to quit her job once she got her career off the ground since he would be making six figures and would be able to take care of them both. But she refused to let it go that far, she wasn't helpless. Forget the future and the past. As Jeff always says, 'live for the moment' and in this moment she was watching the starters finger slowly pull back on the trigger and hearing the droning of the engine. Her hands were shacking and her nerves were building up.

"RyLynn Carter has been riding for five years and has progressed faster than riders twice her age. She's truly a star. We'll get to see her shine tonight. She's almost guaranteed a victory as one of the few female riders to win this expedition." That was the general hype surrounding Riley up to that point.

There was silence, then 'bang!'

The riders took off into the straightaway and then Riley pulled into the lead automatically. She sped up but paced herself as to not overload her engine. On the final lap it was Riley and two other racers Harvey and Drake in first and second respectively. Riley pulled up so she was even with Drake. She saw Drake look over at her and he pulled back leaving just her and Harvey. Harvey got dangerously close to her as they approached the last turn.

She sped up as the exited the last turn and headed down the straight away to the mini-hill. At that point Drake came from out of nowhere and pulled to her right with Harvey close on her left. She went to slow down as she ascended on the slope. From nowhere Harvey sped up and cut in front of her as Drake bumped her on the side. Riley's front tire locked causing her to fly off of her bike. Her feet scraped the dirt as she landed with full impact shoulder first into the guardrail and hit her head. Everything went black.

Jeff couldn't sleep. He wondered what was going on in Riley's head. Why didn't she tell him? She was an adult and she didn't need him watching over her but still. He stopped and saw that Riley's door was opened. He gazed at her slender figure laying on the mess of blankets on top of the bed. He could tell that she had been crying.

He sat down next to her and ran the back of his hand down her cheek. He sighed; maybe the reality of the crash was too much. That wasn't possible because if she were afraid she wouldn't have continued? She wouldn't have had that fire in her eyes. He wondered what or who had such an impact on her to make her quit. What could have extinguished the fire in her eyes?

Following song lyrics belong to me! Smiles they also correspond with last chapter p.s. a poppy upbeat song but there are also an slow version

6 days you've been sleeping, here in my arms,

5 minutes we've wasted, were five minutes to long.

4 words were said, wishing they were never spoken

3 tears have fallen, tears of truth.

Through all the pain, 2 hearts were broken

giving me 1 more chance to fall, back in love with you.

Riley awoke to the sun shining in her eyes. Everything was blurry until her eyes adjusted to the light. Her head hurt like hell and she didn't know why, but that was nothing compared to the pain in her shoulder and her back. She tilted her head to the left and saw a mountain of flowers, cards, and balloons. 'Wait, this isn't my room. Where am I?'

She moved her head to the right. That was no small task. She closed her eyes as it sent a wave of pain down her spine. She felt like screaming but nothing came out of her mouth. She opened her eyes and saw Jeff sitting in a chair by her bedside asleep but still grasping her hand. "Jeff?" she said. It only came out as a slightly audible whisper. "Jeff," she said a little louder. 'I'll let him sleep. He looks tired. I can talk to him later,' she thought as she drifted back to sleep.


Jeff had been at the hospital for 6 days after AJ had called and told him about the crash. He flew for 2 ours from Florida on a flight that took him straight to North Carolina but it seemed he couldn't get there fast enough. He got to the hospital and ran around trying to find Riley's room. He stopped at a nurse's station. "Excuse me; do you know where RyLynn Carter's room is?" The nurse slowly checked her chart. God, this was making him nervous.

"Um, she's still in the ER being checked out..." Jeff bolted down the hall. "Sir?" the nursed called after him. He just ignored her and kept running.

He spotted AJ, Harmony, Lauren, and Christopher in the waiting room. "AJ", Jeff panted out of breath. "Have you heard anything?

AJ just shook his head.

"She's been in there for the past couple of hours. She looked pretty bad. The EMT said she had a concussion, a bruised back, she dislocated her left shoulder and she's been unconscious. She was mumbling something about you on the ride over here but then we lost her."

Jeff panicked, "what do you mean?"

AJ sensed his panic. "No, she's still alive but she hasn't woken up yet."

Just then, Dr. Stevens came into the waiting room.

"RyLynn Carter?"

AJ and Jeff went over to the doctor.

"Ms. Carter is in stable condition. I'm sure you're aware of her injuries and that she's going to be on pain medication to help with the pain. She still hasn't woken up as a result of the concussion but there doesn't seem to be any irregular brain patterns."

AJ and Jeff just nodded both relieved the news wasn't any worse.

"She can see two people at a time. Who wants to go first?"

Harmony and Lauren both suggested that AJ and Jeff see her first; after all, AJ was her brother and Jeff was her best friend. Christopher had other motive.

"Well, AJ is her brother but I'm her boyfriend. Shouldn't I go see her first?"

Riley's friends just rolled their eyes.

"Its okay guys, I can go in last," Jeff piped up knowing that Riley didn't need hostility around her.

Chris had a triumphant smirk on his face.

AJ looked at him and mouthed, "Are you sure?" Jeff nodded.

So, AJ and Chris went in. The problem was Chris never came out. AJ left, Harmony went in, Harmony left and Lauren went in. All the while Jeff paced back and forth waiting for his turn. Lauren taped him on the shoulder, "your next." Jeff walked slowly to Riley's room preparing him for the worst knowing it couldn't be that bad. But hey, it never hurts to be prepared right? He found her room and heard Chris' voice. 'He must be talking to her. She's awake!' he though hopefully. As he entered quietly he saw that Riley hadn't woken up, but Chris continued to speak.

"RyLynn," he shook his head.

"Dear sweet RyLynn. I told you if you continued to race that you'd get hurt. But no, you had to go out there and race. Now you've gotten yourself hurt. You said you have to take risks to do what you love. Are those risks worth it? I thought not. Now if you'll only give up your silly little motocross hobby of yours. You can get your degree; we can get married, and like it or not you'll become a demure, obedient housewife. What's the use in being a journalist and working when I can take care of us both?"

Jeff walked further into the room clearing his throat and taking a seat by Riley's bedside. Chris glared at him and he just glared back. Chris finally left the room.

Over the next few days Jeff rarely left Riley's side. AJ bought him coffee and he didn't see Chris very often but every other day. On the sixth day he had fallen asleep. He was holding Riley's hand when he felt her stir. He could be dreaming and it was probably wishful thinking on his part. Jeff heard and whisper and then he heard his name a little louder. He opened his eyes to see Riley closing her eyes again. He smiled to himself and slowly let go of her hand to find AJ.