Callie POV
I was covering my head with my hands as I braced myself for the impact. It was the only way I knew how to protect myself in this kind of situation.
I am not sure if you can ever brace yourself for a car crash. It happen so fast, that you don't fully even get to wrap your head around what is happening. One moment you are having a good time, talking with your mom, the next moment you can be in a car crash without even realizing it.
There wasn't anything I could do to guarantee that I won't get hurt. My only protection right now was that Cooper had managed to turn the car, so that his side would be closer to the impact and further away from mom and I. The other protection that I had, was the seat belt. But I am not sure what good it would do to me in this situation that I have found myself right now. Basically I was completely unprotected.
Bracing for impact in car crash was basically the same as bracing myself for getting hit or kicked by a foster father. It doesn't do you any good. It still hurts. No matter how hard you try to block the pain away.
So, I waited for the impact. That's the only thing I could do.
These few milliseconds or maybe a second felt like dragging on forever. It felt like hours had passed. I didn't have the guts to open my eyes or take my hands away from my head. I was too scared.
As I was praying for us to survive this crash, I came to realization - I don't want to die. I am not ready to leave this world. Not yet, not lie this. I want to fall in love and get married, and have kids, and see them grow up. I want to see my brother grow up. I want to make many more memories with the Adams Foster clan. I want to be see my mom live a full life, maybe get remarried with Cooper. I want her to meet her future grand kids. I am not done with this life I have right now. Yeah, it was pretty shitty for few years, but I have found my place. I have a safe place that I can call home, I have people that love me.
I want to live! Please let us live!
"Callie! You okay?" I heard Cooper calls my name in desperate, frantic tone
"Honey! Can you look at me?" Next moment I hear my moms soft voice "Callie!" How was this happening right now? Did the crash already happen? How could mom and Cooper be talking to me? A car was just few feet away from us. It was going to hit us. We were going to be in a car crash.
I heard a sound that reminded me of a seat belt being opened. A moment later, I felt a hand on my knee.
"Callie," mom says carefully "It's okay, Callie. We are okay!" Her hand left my knee. Second later I felt her hand on my forearm "We are okay!" Mom repeated in soothing tone
Slowly I opened my eyes. Floor and the back of the passenger seat were the first things that I saw. Warily tilting my head up, I saw mom turned back to me from her seat. She didn't have a scratch on. There was no blood. The car looked intact. Cooper was looking at me from his seat, there was nothing, but concern in his eyes.
I took my hands away from my head and locked my eyes with mom "A car was—I thought I saw-Car was going to hit us!"
"It stopped!" Mom reassured me instantly "The car managed to stop! It stopped, Callie. We are okay. We were not hit!"
My head snaps to the other side passenger window. The car was standing literally inches away from the side of our car. I saw the people in the other car. There was a man and a woman sitting in the front seats. They both looked in shock and panic as they tried to wrap their heads around what had happened.
"Oh my god!" I breathed out in huge relief. The last few seconds clearly took few years off my life and gave me a few grey hair. My heart was still beating fast and hard in my chest.
"Does anything hurt?" Mom asks me as she placed her hand back on my knee
It was very hard to turn back to reality. I felt dazed. It felt like I wasn't really controlling my body. Focusing came very hard as I was still trying to wrap my head around what had happened.
"No!" I shook my head few seconds later when I had time to think about what mom said. Nothing hurt. There was no pain. I look down to my body and tried to see if I had any scratch on me "No..I'm...I don't think so..."
The more time passed, the more noises I started to hear. Without the breathing noises that came from this car and the engine that was running, I started to hear other noises from the outside. There was a constant noise of a honk. It was like someone had pressed his hand to the steering wheel and not letting go of the honk.
"Good!" Mom says relieved before she turns back to her seat
I finally glanced out the window by my right side. The sight in front of my shocked me. Just few meters in front of us there were 5 cars that all looked damaged very badly. It seemed like the red pick-up truck had T-bone the blue Audi. I remember seeing the Audi driving right in front of us. It seemed that from the collision the Audi had spun the to the other lane and smashed into the White Opel, that had been driving on the other lane next to the Audi. From the ongoing lane two cars hadn't manged to stop in time and had crashed into the Audi and the Opel, that were now on the ongoing lane.
"Holly crap!" I blurred out as I saw the sight in front of me
"Callie, call 911!" Mom tells me as she and Cooper gets out of the car. Before I could realize, I saw mom and Cooper both running towards the cars that had crashed.
I grabbed my purse, that had fallen to the ground and step out of the car. Pulling my phone out, I dial 911 as I look to the sight around me.
"911 – what's your emergency!" the operator asks me snapping me out of my thoughts
"There was an accident!" I say as I take few steps towards the crashed cars
"What kind of an accident?"
"Car crash" I reply still stunned by what had happened
"Where you in the car crash?"
"...Um...no...not really. It happened right in front of us," My eyes were now focused on the red pick-up truck that had smashed the hood pretty hard. My guess is that the pick-up truck won't drive another mile. It was in bad condition, as were the other cars.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Callie Scott" I needed 2 seconds to remember my own name
"Callie, can you tell me where are you?"
"Umm..I don't ...I am not sure..." I was confused about the location as I hadn't paid much attention to the surroundings before the crash.
"Callie, can you look around you, to the buildings next to where you are? There should be a street sign somewhere," The operator says very calmly. I don't know why I hadn't thought about it. Even a child would know that.
"Yeah...just a sec...uh-." I squint my eyes as I try to see the street signs "Intersection of Ave 256 and Willow street 9"
"Very good, Callie. Can you tell me how many cars crashed?"
"I can count 5...but, there might be more"
"Help is on it's way, Callie. It will be there in 3 minutes-"
"Oh..okay" I breath out as I keep walking closer to the crashed cars
"Callie! Get the first med kid from the trunk!" Mom called me from the Audi. I turned on my heel, my phone in my hand and hurry back to the car. From the trunk I grab the first med box and run back to mom. I saw Cooper talking to someone in the white Opel car. Right now, I had completely forgotten about the 911 operator I was on line with.
When I run to mom, she quickly orders me "Give me the gauze!"
With shaky hands I open the box and grab the gauze. Mom grabs it out of my hand and then reaches back to the front seat, through the shattered side window and presses the gauze to the woman forehead. When I peaked a look inside, all I saw was blood. It was everywhere. Her clothes, the seat, the window, the panel. It looked like the driver and the passenger both were unconscious.
"Grab the other one and go press it to the drivers head. But don't move him! He might have damaged his spine. Just press the gauze to his head, from where he is bleeding and keep a pressure on it," Mom says to me
I place my phone in the first med box and take the other gauze. Then I hurry around the car to help the driver. The window was not shattered so I couldn't get to him. I peak a look through the car to mom, who had her head and hand in the car as she kept the gauze to the woman's head. The gauze was already turning in the color crimson red.
"Try the doors!" Mom points with her free hand to the doors
I pull on the doors few times "They won't budge!" I call back feeling a slight panic stetting in
"Try again!" Mom shouted back
I give the doors 5 more hard pulls, but they didn't move. Looking to the car, I get another idea. I try the back doors. After few hard pulls the back doors open. I get in the backseat and from the back I press the gauze to his forehead. Remembering moms words, I was careful not to move him as I didn't want to risk injuring him more. I kept a steady pressure to the gash on his forehead.
"Mom?" I speak up after few seconds
"Yes, Callie?"
"Are they going to be okay?" I ask scared and glance a look at her
"I don't know honey. It doesn't look too good," Mom replied honestly "They are both loosing a lot of blood and..." Her eyes traveled down the woman body. From my point of view, I thought I saw a bone poking out of the woman's leg, there was a huge gash on the woman's forearm, and her face...well, it looked like she was in a ring with Mike Tyson and lost.
"The ambulance should be here in 2 minutes," I informed mom
"Let's hope they can get here as soon as possible!" By her tone it sounded like mom was in her cop more, only she was dressed in high heels and black cocktail dress. Mom hadn't hesitated for a second after she had made sure I was okay. She had instantly run to the other cars to help other people. I guess it was in her blood to help people in need. It was kind of amazing to see mom in action.
The two minutes seemed to be dragging on for 30 minutes. It felt like time had stopped. Every second it seemed like the two people could die in our arms. Blood from the gauze, was slowly soaking through and dripping on my hand. I felt the warm liquid on my fingers.
What I hadn't expected and what scared the crap out of me was that the woman woke up. She gasped as her eyes flew open.
"Hey, hey, hey...Shh...it's okay," Mom soothes the woman as soon as she came to. The woman tried to move. Every little movement she did, came with a pain filled groan
"Don't try to move. Help is on it's okay. You need to try and stay as calm as possible," Mom says calmly to the woman, while trying to keep her as steady as possible
"...Ugh….aghh…hurts" the woman cries out
"I know it does," Mom replies sympathetically " Here squeeze my hand..." Mom slipped her palm in the woman right hand
"Can you tell me your name?" Mom asks the woman a second later. She sounded just as calm as the operator woman. It was like she knew what to say to calm the person down or at least to take their mind of the things.
"...St-acy" the woman managed to stutter out
"It's nice to meet you Stacy. I'm Amy"
"My...sisters...name is Amy" the woman replied
"How old is she?" mom kept on talking with the woman, just like nothing had happened
"Turned 18…3 weeks ago"
"Still in the rebel phase?" Mom chuckled a little, not taking her eyes of the woman
"Always...been one. I don't...think she will...grow out of it"
"Give her few more years. I passed my rebel phase when I was 20," Mom says just when I felt the man stir a little under my hand
"Mom...mom!" I whisper to her "He's waking up! What do I do?"
"Talk to him," mom instructed as she now had to calm down the woman from the start
"-Tom!" Stacy cried out as she tried to move her head to look at her friend
"Stacy, please stay calm. Don't try to move okay?" I heard mom trying to calm the woman, but now I had to try to talk to the man, too. Only my situation was way more trickier. He didn't see me as I was sitting behind him. He could only hear my voice and feel my hand that was keeping the gauze to his forehead.
"Tom, my name is Callie," I say remembering parts of how man handled the situation
"...Ugggh.." He groaned back
"I am sitting behind you. Don't try to turn and see me. You should keep as still as possible. Don't try to turn your head, okay?" I looked to the rear view mirror. It was bent down a little, but I could still see his eyes from the back.
"Blink once if you understood what I said," I tell him and look to the rear view mirror to see his eyes. It took him few seconds, but he blinked back once.
"I am keeping a gauze to your head, do you fee lit?" I ask him, not taking my eyes off the rear view mirror. One blink.
"Help is on it's way. There are already sirens in the distance. Do you hear them?" - One blink
"-St...Stacy?" Tom stuttered out
"I love you…Tom" Stacy says to Tom the first chance she got
"Love you... too!" Tom replied. Blindly they reached for each others hand and they found one another. They gripped each others hand as tightly as they could giving each other comfort and strength.
"Ambulance is here!" Mom informs us "Hold on, you two! Just hold on!"
"Miss" I heard a woman's voice from my left side few seconds later. When I looked to my side, I saw a woman standing there in EMT uniform, with firefighter right behind her and a big red bad in her hand.
"What's your name?" the woman asks me as she places the bag on the ground next to the car
"Callie"
"Callie, I'm Betty. We are going to switch, okay?" she says to me and peaks a look inside the car to the man
"Okay" I say scared, not knowing what to except
"Here is how it is going to go, I'm gonna reach in and take over the gauze, you are keeping to his-"
"Tom, his name is Tom" I interject quickly
"Keeping to Tom's head," Betty corrected quickly "Once I will tell you – you are going to squeeze out of the car behind my back, okay?" I nod back to her orders
The woman reaches in the car. I feel her hand, that had a glove on, brush off against my bare palm.
"Okay, I got it. You can let go now" Betty says to me. I pull my left hand back and get out of the car. Betty quickly took my place in the car behind the drivers seat.
"You did very good, Callie!" Betty tells me before the firefighter handed her some medical stuff
Slowly I backed away from the car. When I look around the crash site, I see that this place was now swarming with firefighters, EMT workers and cops. Blue, white and red lights were flashing around. Organized chaos was all around me.
"Here!" mom was suddenly standing in front. When I looked down to her hands, I saw that she was holding out a wet wipe for me. As I reached for it, my hand shook visibly. I quickly pulled my hand back, trying to hide it from mom.
"Shh, it's okay, baby!" Mom reached for my hand. She held my right hand in hers as with her other hand she cleaned the blood of my hand "You were really brave Callie. I'm proud of you. You did good!"
I took in a shaky breath. Out of nowhere, I felt like crying. I guess the adrenaline is wearing off and I will be left with my raw emotions any second now.
"All clean," Mom tells me calmly and opens her arms "Come here!"
I leaned towards her instantly and pressed my head to her shoulder. Once mom wrapped her arms around me and I closed my eyes, a little sob escaped my mouth.
"Shh...we are okay. It's over, honey. It's over. I got you!" Mom whispers to me soothingly as she moves her hand over my back in circles. I feel mom pressing her head gently to mine.
"Amy, Callie! You two okay?" I heard Cooper's voice before I heard footsteps up to us
"Little bit shaken up," Mom replies to Cooper without letting go of me or leaning out of the embrace. I feel Cooper kiss the top of my head, before he wraps his hands around both of us, keeping the three of us in a small, tight hug.
We were all safe. Finally the nightmare was over. Somehow we managed to get out of this without a scratch on. It almost felt like we all were just given another chance at life. The only reason we are not on a stretchers right now, with c-collars around our necks and gauze's covering our gashes - is because we were lucky. Incredibly lucky. If the pick-up truck had driven just second later in the intersection, it would have hit us, not the Audi in front of us.
I can honestly say that December 20th is going to be like my second birthday from this day forward.
AN: Sorry for the mistakes. I wanted to have this chapter up today (by my time zone) so I wrote it in a little bit of rush. I didn't want to leave you guys waiting for too long, especially because many of you feared that I would kill or hurt someone really bad.
Why do you guys always assume the worst is going to happen? :D Have I really scared you that much?
The reason why these two chapters had to happen, you will find out in the next chapter. Let the suspense continue -Muah-ha-ha-ha :D
I hope you enjoyed :) Thank you for reading.