When Blood Speaks

Part Six

There was darkness before the light.

There was silence before the sound.

There was blood. There was always blood.

"Lily? Lily, can you hear me?"

The voice was raspy, echoing in my ears. It sounded familiar. The voice echoed of a time long past, a time long past. A time I aimed to hide; to keep secret from the world and myself. Yet now, it called to me.

"Lily, you need to open your eyes. Can you do that?"

He called my name again. This time, the voice was different. It was clear. My mind was catching up with reality. I was no longer in my truck. I was lying down. It was cold and hard, like plastic. Hands were holding my head. 

The sounds of the world surrounded me, eclipsing the ringing in my ears. There were voices, so many voices.

"I think she's fine. Just knocked unconscious from the impact on the steering wheel."

"You think an animal jumped in front of her?"

"Could be a DUI."

"I don't think so, Jane."

"But the gun -" 

With a dull ache pounding the back of my head, my eyes opened to see Bill hovering over me. A paramedic was hovering nearby, flashing a bright light across my eyes. I followed the light for a moment, before wincing away. Bill grinned when he realized I was staring at him. 

"How are you feeling? You were in a nasty accident."

Tilting my head to the side, my truck was smoking. The front end was smashed into a small group of trees along the side of the road. Only a mile from my house. Groaning, I reached for my head. Bill shifted to crouch beside me, his hand working to balance me as I sat up.

The paramedic held his finger up to my face. "Follow my finger."

North, south, east, west, north again. 

The dull ache radiated through my head. Lifting my hand, I felt an egg on my forehead that hadn't been there before. The steering wheel. Leaning over, I spit a wad of blood onto the ground and out of my mouth. Pain echoed throughout my body from the muscle aches and bruises. And yet, I felt nothing. Only the need to get home.

Bill's partner, Jeff, noticed me as I continued to stare in his direction. My expression must have been something interesting. His eyes narrowed as his tongue pressed against the side of his cheek. He moved from beside Old Blue over to us. He knelt down on the other side of me. "What happened here?"

As if snapping back to reality, I reached to pull my hair out of my face, blinking profusely. "I - I think an animal jumped out in front of me. I'm not entirely sure. It happened really fast."

Bill glanced over at Jeff who was still glaring at me. Something in his expression told me he didn't believe me. But Bill did as he said, "That was our assumption. These mountain roads can be really dangerous, especially at night."

"Where is your husband?" Jeff asked abruptly.

Wincing at his tone, I answered, "He's staying in town overnight with a friend."

The tongue that had pressed onto the side of his cheek fell down to his chin before sucking on the top of his teeth. From his back pocket, he pulled out the same notebook book he had earlier in the day. He flipped it open to the back, jotting down something down before closing and returning it to his pocket. 

Jeff's eyes held mine for another moment before he sighed. Standing, he offered me his hand. "The paramedics don't think you were seriously injured. Just badly bruised."