His Hope

Part 18: Altered

18

"Louisa... Lou?" Xavier mumbled as he came too. He rubbed his face, groaning from the pain around his right temple. He looked around, breathing hard trying to assess his surroundings. His breath caught when he noticed the car was in the ditch, the windshield completely smashed in. "What the fuck..." he whispered to himself.

He turned in his seat, to find his beautiful girl covered in blood. He couldn't move or breathe for a moment as he took her in. His eyes ran over every part of her, not wanting to believe that what he was seeing is real. "Baby?" He whispered.

"Baby!" He said again, finally regaining some movement in his hand as he reached for her. "God no. No. No. No."

His heart was racing as he undid his seat belt, falling forward into the center console. He knew not to move her head but pressed two fingers against her neck trying to find a pulse. He couldn't tell if her chest was moving and the harder he looked the less he was sure of anything.

His heart sunk to his toes when he didn't feel anything in her neck and he hastily pressed his fingers against her wrist. "Baby please, please wake up," he whispered as he pressed harder against her skin.

He finally felt the faintest beat of her heart and he broke down in tears as he pressed his lips to her wrist, ignoring the metallic taste that now tangled with his tongue. "Okay, you're alive. You're alive, okay baby. I'm gonna get us out of here, just hold on love."

Now that he knew she was alive, he was able to focus more on how to get them out of the car. He tried his door, but it was completely smashed in, there was no way he could get it open. His eyes searched frantically for an opening, before landing on the windshield. He reached into the backseat pulling out his coat, thanking the heavens he had forgotten to bring it inside and gently maneuvered it over Louisa's head and chest. He pulled his shirt from his own body, tearing it in half before wrapping a piece around each of his hands and forearms. He cried out when he tried to pull his leg up, the pain just now registering in his mind. He swallowed hard, wiping the sweat from his face before double-checking Louisa was covered.

"Okay, you can do this" he whispered to himself. He shifted himself up as much as he could, covering his face with one hand before punching the already broken windshield away from the car. When the rest of it finally broke away, he was able to clear the glass enough to fit his body through. Glancing down he noticed it was his knee that wasn't sitting right and tried to move again, gritting his teeth in pain. He leaned his head back into the seat and swallowed hard not allowing himself to fall into a place that he was sure he would find himself in soon. He had to think, he had to get them out of here, find help. His eyes found Louisa again and he reached for her wrist double-checking her pulse, closing his eyes and feeling her heartbeat under his fingertips for a minute before he reluctantly let go.

Xavier reached down placing his hands on both sides of his leg, before using all of his strength to snap his knee back into place. He screamed louder than he thought possible, gasping for air as he fell back against his seat. He faintly heard a loud clatter through the ringing in his ears and he closed his eyes as tears fell heavily from them.

After he was able to catch his breath, he moved his knee again, the pain was there, but it was bearable. He shifted his large body through the windshield, falling onto the ground once he was free. He surveyed his surroundings, praying to any God that would listen for help. When his eyes found the bag that he kept in his car full of emergency supplies, he quickly made his way over to it. The first thing his hands landed on was a radio and he pulled it from its confines, switching to the station he and his men used.

"This is Sheriff Knight, requesting immediate backup, we have an 11-41," Xavier spoke into the radio, closing his eyes as he awaited a response. He was about to say it again when he heard a muffled voice come through. He quickly adjusted his radio so he could hear more clearly.