Free Distinction: The Distraction Trilogy #3 by A. E. Murphy Page B

but my arm goes across to find Elle. I push back on her chest as we begin to tip.
    The car rolls onto Elle’s side; she makes no noise but I see the metal door bend inwards.
    Creaking, crunching and groaning send me in a panic. We’re going to tip upside down. I grab the wheel and turn it to the left, relieved when we fall into an upright position. The jolt would have bounced me out of my seat if not for my seatbelt.
    “Elle?” I undo my seatbelt after only a second to gather myself. My head spins and my lungs clog with the smoke coming from the engine. It burns my throat and tastes foul on my tongue. “Elle, baby?”
    She remains strapped to her seat; her hair is over her face.
    I brush it back and gently lean over her so I can see better. She’s out. Blood is gushing down her neck and shoulder. More blood is trickling from her ear and even more from her mouth.
    “No!” I beg, feeling my panic rise. “No, no, no.”
    My door flies open and a man comes into view. He’s speaking but there’s a ringing in my ears making it impossible for me to hear a thing that comes out of his mouth.
    He presses me back into my seat and holds me there, all the while talking to me.
    The world spins around me but I need to help Elle. I need to make sure she’s okay.
    She’s breathing, barely. What if she dies?
    Slowly and surely my ears begin to settle and my scrambled brain begins to function.
    “There’s an ambulance on its way,” a woman yells as the man holds me in place.
    “What’s your name? Can you tell me your name?” He asks when I look at him.
    “Isaac.” Why is he holding me down? “I need to get to Elle. Let go.”
    My numb arms lift and then flop into my lap.
    “You need to remain still and calm.”
    The smoke burns my lungs and the fear of the engine explosion sends me diving for my seatbelt. Strength I didn’t know I had courses through me. We need to get out of this car.
    “You don’t need to; it’s fine. The fire is out.” He slams me back as my strength wavers and then diminishes to nothing. It fades away with the lingering smoke.
    I blink, trying to focus.
    Nothing.
    “Elle… is she okay?” A haze shadows my vision. My head feels heavy. “Ishekay?” Darkness consumes me.

Chapter Seven
     

Eloise
    My head throbs and there’s an awful pain shooting through my arm.
    Nausea bubbles in my stomach and I lurch upwards before vomiting. Whoever is with me must have seen it coming because I feel soft cardboard knock against my chin.
    Hot flashes of pain overwhelm me with each heave. My ribs ache. I feel so sore.
    “It’s okay; you’re okay.” My mum’s voice breaks through the tired fog of my mind.
    I blink and rest back once the heaving stops. “Toothbrush.”
    “I’ll fetch one soon.” She pushes my hair out of my face as I blink my eyes rapidly. The blur finally subsides enough for me to take in my mum and my surroundings.
    My dad is sitting to my right, holding my hand, and my mum is on my left.
    “What… what happened?” I look down at the IV in my arm and the tight bandage around my other wrist. “Was I in an accident?”
    “A car smashed into the side of Isaac’s just off the hill,” my dad explains softly.
    It all starts coming back to me. We were at a junction. The light turned green for us so we drove through. A green car came flying through the red light to the left. Isaac swerved and the green car swerved, but he hit the front corner of the bonnet. I remember spinning.
    My hand flies to my head as I recall cracking my forehead against the passenger side window.
    There’s a bandage around my forehead but it’s not too thick.
    “You needed glue. It wasn’t a bad cut; your hair will hide the scar,” my mum explains, though I’m not worried about scarring.
    “Isaac?” I panic and look around the room. “Where’s Isaac?”
    My dad clicks his fingers in front of my face. “Are you hearing me?” I focus on his lips as the sound travels to my left ear but not my