The car is just thrown. Upside down. Every direction.
It comes to a sudden halt with a forceful bang as it hits a tree. It's occupants being jostled from left to right one more time and then everything stills. Only the ticking of the cooling motor can be heard in the eerie silence of the woods surrounding the wreck.
Not one sound from the two men sitting in the front, though. Because one had been thrown halfway out the windshield. Not wearing his seatbelt, the idiot. The other one is out cold, slumped to the side the car is tilted.
The impact knocked leaves off the trees and bushes around, which were now peacefully floating to the ground. As they settle on the forest floor, labored breathing and a groan can be heard from the car-wreck.
In the passenger seat, with his head slumped down to his chest, Jamie drowsily opens his eyes, looking at his hands which are lying limply in his lap. His breathing picks up. Shit.
He blinks once, twice and slowly raises his head and sits upright. Thick waves of his unruly hair are falling over his brows. His gaze is unfocused as he can barely make out the tree which had embedded itself in the hood through the broken windshield. He can see the driver, Nick, out of the corner of his eyes and refuses to look too closely. I pulled the handbrake.
Instead, he unbuckles is belt, a whimper escaping his lips as he does so. Everything hurts.
He turns his upper body towards the door and grits his teeth as he tries to open the door. It doesn't budge. Jamie draws in a deep breath, pulls back and throws his shoulder against the door with full force. It swings open and slightly upwards. As the car is almost lying on the driver's side, Jamie has to let himself fall to the ground.
The landing isn't as smooth as he thought it would be. Breaking through some branches, he hits the floor on his stomach with a thud. The impact forces the air from his lungs and he rolls onto his back, drawing in a deep, ragged breath. Everything's spinning.
As he stares into the green crowns of the trees above him, he touches his forehead. His fingers come away bloody. Gazing at his hand in surprise, he notices that his forearm is bleeding as well. A cut in the fabric of his jacket's sleeve reveals a large gash, which makes his stomach churn.
He hears a moan in the distance. Nick. Fuck.
Ignoring the nausea and dizziness, he rolls onto all fours and pushes himself to his feet, wavering dangerously for a second before steadying himself.
He staggers around the car to the driver's side. Nick comes into view. His upper body is lying on the hood, cheek touching the cool metal of the car, the other half is still inside the vehicle and the middle... All Jamie can see and smell is the blood flowing in thick rivulets. A wave of dizziness and shock make him stumble backwards, hand flying to his mouth with a sharp gasp.
Wide-eyed, he stares at his friend in horror.
„I don't want you to die."
Jamie had sunk to the floor and is sitting on eye level in front of his friend, sobbing, desperate, confused. But he understands. He waits.
And Nick draws his last breath.
Blood has run down and dried on the left side of Jamie's temple. Nick is gone.
He would've sat there forever, staring at his dead friend, letting the soft tunes of the radio invade his brain, if the pain hadn't brought him back from his stupor. Now that the adrenaline was gone, Jamie felt his strength leaving his body like the blood he had lost.
He is still clutching the turned-off phone in his lap and now raises it with his good arm, turning it back on.
„911 what's your emergency?" A female voice demands in a friendly tone.
„Umm", Jamie's voice cracks. He wipes the tears from his face, clears his throat and tells the operator his approximate location. Nick's gone. Because of him.
He has to keep his shit together. Right now. Before anyone gets here. Before anyone notices what he did. He can't lose what he has gained. „Anything you gain in this life, you'll eventually have to lose", he hears Nick say.
The mold he had made for himself. That he fits into so perfectly. An upstanding citizen. An expecting father. Leela.
He can't loose any of that. Not her. Not this life. No!
His breath quickens with a panicked gasp.
Beads of sweat are forming along his hairline, mixing with the blood smeared across his forehead. He can hardly breathe, clutching his chest with his good arm, the other one is lying by his side. He sways as he sits. Stars are dancing in front of his eyes, his view tunneling... Nick's hand hanging limply over the side of the hood. Blood dripping.
All colour leaves Jamie's features. His eyes roll back and his head tips backwards as the hand at his chest falls away. He falls backwards, the impact of his back and head hitting the ground waking him somewhat. He coughs weakly and feels himself drifting, his head rolling limply to one side, his eyes closing on their own accord, his features slacken, the panic gone. For now. An almost peaceful expression around his parted lips. Peace which he will never know again in the days to come. He can hear sirens in the distance as his mind is sucked into deep nothingness.
My whumpy take on the accident scene in Part I
Spoiler for Part I