CHAPTER 2
Christian jumped out of the SUV and Taylor dialed 911. Taylor was right behind him slipping in mud down the embankment. A car had crashed off the road into a railing and next to some trees. It was upside down and sideways against the treeline. If those trees hadn't stopped the car it would have slid down a far slope.
The water and mud was pouring into the car's roof through the broken window and the driver was hanging upside down too in a seatbelt. It was a girl and she looked unconscious. The window was shattered and it's a 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT. Shit she trapped the fucking doors go up like wings.
Christian shouted, "Taylor she can't get out even if she tried upside down, the fucking doors open up like wings!" Taylor goes to look to see how the trees are holding her up and they seem strong for now. Christian thought, 'Fuck it.' He kneels down in the mud and water and looks inside. The girl's dark long hair is hanging down.
Christian touched her bloody bruised face and said, "Miss… Miss… are you ok?" She moans. Her eyes flutter open and she looks at me. The most incredible eyes I have ever seen. 'Oh my God, it's her, Anastasia!'
Ana says weakly, "What's happened?"
Christian said, "You went off the road and it's raining like hell. How do your arms and legs feel, are they ok? Does anything hurt?"
She said, "My face and chest hurt, my legs and arms seem ok. I'm upside down! I have to get out of here!" She starts to panic.
He said, "We called 911 and they were on the way." Suddenly, the car shifts. She screams in panic.
Taylor came around the vehicle quickly and shouted, "We have to get her out, now!" He gets down on his knees in the mud and reaches inside. Christian tells him her face and chest are in pain. Christian gets back out of his way. Taylor flips open his knife and starts cutting her seatbelt.
Taylor said to Ana, "I have to cut the hip belt and you're gonna fall! I'll catch your head, but we have to get you away from the car fast! Watch the steering wheel and crawl out the window the best you can!" He cut the belt and cushioned her head best he could. She screamed as the car shifted again. She started crawling and clawing out the window as the glass tore at her clothes down her back in the window. Taylor had her torso out of the car as the trees were letting go from the embankment on the edge of the drop off.
Taylor and Christian were frantically clamoring uphill trying to drag her physically in the oatmeal mud uphill out of the car, slipping every now and then. She had a death grip on Christian and Taylor with her purse slung around her right arm. They pulled her completely free as the last of the trees let go and her car went careening down the embankment, then down the steep incline below tumbling over and over. They pulled her through the mud up to the guard rail that was broken. She starts crying hysterically into Christian. He couldn't blame her, that was a fucking nerve wracking and harrowing experience. He didn't want to ever relive it again. He picked her up and took her to the SUV to get her out of the pouring rain and mud. Taylor went to the back hatch and grabbed a blanket and two towels. He put the blanket down over the seat and was holding a couple towels. Christian put her on the seat on the blanket. He wrapped the blanket over her. Taylor gets in on the other side. They both try to dry off the best they can. Taylor got the first aid kit out and started looking her over.
Out of nowhere, she said, "The brakes went out."
Christian said distractedly, "What?" Not sure he heard that right.
She said shaking, "I bought that goddamn car four fucking days ago and the brakes went out. I think the brake lines were cut. How does a brand new car lose its brakes completely like that? Not like that. I had my foot to the floor and the pedal was dead." She starts to cry again. Someone may have tried to kill her? Christian wrapped his arms around her. She had her hand on his chest and it didn't hurt. He thought, 'What the hell? Where was the pain?'
Christian said, trying to put her at ease, "Don't worry, we'll get the cops to go over the wreckage and it'll show if someone tampered with it. You can also get your car fully replaced."
She sniffled and said, "I don't want another fucking car like that. It trapped me inside with those stupid doors! I'll get a different car, fuck Mercedes designing a car that traps you upsidedown! If… if… you hadn't come… I'd… be dead." She started to cry in his arms again. She was right, if he hadn't seen her at that exact moment she'd be very dead. The ambulance still hadn't come.
Christian said, "Taylor, cancel the call and tell them that we are taking her to the hospital in Seattle and the police need to be notified of possible attempted murder." Taylor made the call and said he was taking her to Seattle Grace Hospital and to get the police involved. He told them her name.
Christian asked her, "Where were you coming from?"
She sniffs and says, "Montesano I have a home there. It was my daddy's favorite place to live and get away from the city. He would say, 'It's the best place because it has everything we'll ever need.'" She said that in a deep voice trying to imitate him. He chuckled at how cute she was even in pain. Taylor was looking Ana over for injuries on her extremities.
Taylor gave Christian alcohol pads and band-aids. He said to clean her scratches and cuts, because he was getting up front to drive. Christian started cleaning her face and she had a big gash by her temple by the hairline. He started there. She winced ever so often but didn't whine like most girls he knew would. She was tough. He blew on the gash because it cools the alcohol and he remembered his mom doing it. She looked in his eyes and he was mesmerized by her eyes, that he remembered from the club. You could drown in her lovely cerulean blue eyes.
She said, "You're very kind and gentle, Christian. Thank you for saving and taking care of me, no matter how weird it is that it's you of all people to come along." He thought, 'Oh God, did I just feel my non-exist heartbeat?'
He said softly, "You're welcome, Anastasia. Do you want us to contact anyone while you're in the hospital?" I didn't know what else to say.
She sadly shook her head and said, "No since daddy died in a traffic accident, I'm all alone. I'm getting sleepy, Christian. My back hurts, can you look at it?" He nodded. She leaned forward and dropped the blanket. There was a lot of blood on the blanket. He looked and she had a huge gouged gash going up her back. It was about six to eight inches long and deep. He panicked and thought, 'Why wasn't she screaming, it was bleeding a lot.' He tried to clean it up and put a big bandage on it.
He said to make her believe it was alright and stay calm, "You'll be ok." She leaned into him and started coughing with blood on her lips. Then she lost consciousness against his chest. He thought now panicking himself, 'Oh God, don't go after everything we have been put through together today.'
Christian said urgently, "Taylor, she's unconscious, has blood on her lips from coughing and has a huge deep gash in her back bleeding heavily." Taylor sped up.
They pulled into the ER drop off zone. Taylor jumped out of the SUV and the ER staff rushed to the door. One of the attendants took over and got her on a gurney and rushed her inside. Christian took her purse and gave them all the information at the desk. He told them everything about her condition. He found her identification, health insurance cards and that there was no next of kin.
Christian called his mother and told her what happened, she said to contact his dad. He called his dad and told him what happened today. Carrick said they would need to see if there was any next of kin. Christian told him she said there wasn't any. His dad put in for a temporary guardianship over Anastasia to Christian.
Taylor walked up to him on the phone and said, "Someone at this hospital leaked information to the press about you being here with an injured woman. The press is filling up the exits. I called in five of our security and notified the hospital's security." Christian nodded.
He said, "I want someone 24/7 on Anastasia at all times and I don't give a shit who gets pissed. If she had an attempt on her life I'm not leaving her alone." Taylor nodded.
He told his dad someone may have tried to kill her by slicing her car's brake lines. Carrick said he would call in a favor and rush the papers to the judge, as soon as he brought them up to the hospital for him to sign. His dad said that he would send an investigator out to her wrecked car to tow it in and check for tampering. Christian told him where it was. He sat and waited. At least for a moment, when two police officers came into the ER. They were asking for Anastasia Steele.
Christian walked up to them and said, "I brought Miss Anastasia Steele into the hospital. Her car had lost control on the I-5 and went through the barricade at mile marker 104. She was trapped upside down in her vehicle up against some trees. It was raining so hard that the trees let go and my head of security and I just barely got her out before it slid down into the valley. After we got her in the SUV she told me that her brakes had been cut and her foot was on the floor trying to use the brake pedal. She just bought a 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT brand new car four days ago."
The first officer said, "Can we speak to her?"
He said, "Don't think so she lost consciousness right before we got her here. That's why we were rushing to get her here."
The second officer asked, "Why didn't you wait for the ambulance?"
Christian said, narrowing his eyes, "Because they were taking too long and it was dangerous. We were on the way to Seattle anyway and so was she."
The second officer asked, "Well you shouldn't have moved her and you should have waited for the ambulance." Christian looked at the guy like there couldn't possibly be anyone stupider.
He said, "Hello? Moron, she almost died in a car crash, the car plummeted down a long slope, almost took her too and we waited but they never came yet. She had face cuts, possibly severe cuts from glass and who knows what else. You expected us to let her wait and bleed to death, drowning in her car or die upside down when the car slid down the slope?!"
The second officer said, "You shouldn't have moved an injured person."
Christian was getting furious at how stupid this guy is. He said frustrated, "At what point in the story, rookie, that I just told you would she not have died if she wasn't moved? Tell me! When she was trapped in her car with injuries bleeding as the trees were letting go from the cliff or when she was sitting in the pouring rain drowning upside down in the car?! Perhaps, I should have done nothing and watch her die before my eyes by sliding down the embankment while waiting for an ambulance that never came in time or laying her on the pavement to bleed out in the rain? Is that your logic?" The guy stood there and didn't say a word.
His partner looked at him and said, "Jamison, not another word." He looked back at Christian and said, "Mr Grey can I get your contact information?" He gave him his card and he told the officer that his father was getting him temporary guardianship over Anastasia Steele. His dad came in the door at that moment with his security guys behind him.
Carrick said, "It's getting nuts out there, the press is swarming the place." He handed Christian the papers and he signed it.
He said, "Thanks, dad." His dad patted him on the shoulder and left to get it signed by the judge.
His mother came in and looked a little disheveled. She said, "Christian, what's the woman's name?"
He said, "Anastasia Steele." His mom took off to find her.
A little while later, his mom came to the waiting room and said, "Christian, she has a deep laceration that has to be sewn up on her back, internal bleeding from a punctured lung with a broken rib and another laceration on her temple to be sewn up also. The worst is she has a concussion. Her being unconscious is not good but with the bleeding injuries, she's in surgery and lost a lot of blood. They lost her once before they could get her to surgery."
He asked, "How long until I can see her?"
His mom said, "She is in the operating room now to stop the bleeding lung and repair the lacerations. They called in the plastic surgeon to do the skin repair on her face and back. They will come tell you. She's a very pretty girl. You can tell even in her bad condition. Christian what happened to her? You look like hell yourself."
He explained, "I had Taylor pull over in the rain on the I-5. It was a fluke that I even saw her. I wasn't even paying attention. It was like something pulled me to look over to her crashed car. If Taylor and I hadn't pulled her out of that car that was flipped upside down, she would be dead. We had seconds to cut her out of the seatbelt before the trees let go from the cliff, her car and mud went careening down a slope into a valley rolling over. She was trapped in it because it had the kind of doors that look like wings going up. She only had a narrow window and the glass was all broken around her. It's a miracle because the car let go the second her foot cleared the window. We climbed up dragging her through the oatmeal like mud slipping ever so often. It was frightening to be one miss step and you're dead falling off that cliff. It was weird and dangerous. When we got her in the vehicle, she said someone cut her brake lines. Someone tried to murder her mom. Her dad died in a car accident a year ago. I'm starting to think it happened to him too. I gotta protect her. She's all alone. I have to help her." His mother looked shocked that he was so adamant about this girl.
Christian's mother said, "It's that important to you?" He nodded. He saw her smile that creepy, 'Mom knows what's going on even though you don't' look on her face.
—--
On Thursday morning, Christian sat reading Anastasia Steele's background check. It was quite an impressive read. He sipped his coffee leaning back in his chair.
—--
Name: Anastasia Rose Steele
Birthdate: 9-10-1987
Social Security: 392-35-5346
Phone number: 360-433-1526
Address:
The Emerald
121 Stewart St, #2207
Seattle, WA 98101
230 Wynoochee Valley Road, Montesano, Washington 98563
Banks:
Chase Bank
Acct# 274965322 $3,034,580.45
Bank of America
Acct# 4538761235836 $25,650,523.09
Education:
Montesano High School- 9/1999-6/2002. Entered age 12. Valedictorian age 14.
WSU
Seattle, Washington
Degrees obtained in 9-2003 to 05-2011: entered age 16
Major: Business Analytics master's degree.
Major: Risk Assessment master's degree
Minor: Business Administration bachelor's degree
Graduated: Summa Cum Laude
SAT Score: 1375
BAnalytics- GPA: 4.2
RAssesmt.- GPA: 4.0
BAdmin- GPA: 4.0
Certifications: First Aid, CPR, Self Defense-Krav Maga- black belt, Survivalist, Gun Range Master (All certifications are current)
Previous Employment:
Greenwood Hardware
Clerk and Stocking(Part time)
7201 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
9-2003 to 5-2010
Current Employment:
None
Relatives:
Father: Frank Lambert,
b: 9-1-1969
d: 9-11-1989(military training accident)
m: 12-12-1988
Mother: Carla Mae Wilks
b: 7-17-1970
d: 10-28-1993(unsolved murdered)
Stepfather: Raymond Steele(former Marine Raider Colonel)
b: 7-31-1964
d: 7-10-2010(traffic accident)
m: 6-12-1989
div: 9-8-1993
Stepfather: Stephen Morton (whereabouts unknown)
b: 8-20-1968
m: 9-16-1993
d: 10-25-1993
Political Associations: None
Religious Affiliations: None
Sexual Orientation: None
Criminal Offenses: None
Relationships: None found.
DMV:
2009 Ford Escape SUV
License plate# RAS731
2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT
License plate # ARS910
Permits: CCW
Registered firearms: Kel-Tec P-11, Sig Sauer P226
--
He thought, 'She's a millionaire in her own right. Not crazy about her having guns though, but she is a military brat. Whatsup with her mother's murder and missing stepfather? I am really glad Anastasia got rid of that death trap car like she said she was going to do, but that Mercedes was a big mistake. I wonder what she will get next? I think I'll go visit her again this evening, again.'