Free Reflecting On Wishes (The Wishes Series) by DeAnna Felthauser

children's ward Saturday morning, he asked if he could go with her. She was a bit nervous to take him along but it warmed her heart that he wanted to spend time with her no matter where it was. If he wanted to go with her to hand out stuffed animals, while she autographed pictures that was fine with her.
    She flipped her turn signal on, looking over her left shoulder as she merged onto the highway and sped up, cruising down the road. She groaned when she got stuck behind a slow moving truck that seemed to be creeping at a snail’s pace. The highway was busy even though rush hour was over. Friday nights tended to be that way, especially in summer-time as people made their way out of town, traveling to local lakes to spend the weekend camping. In fact, there was a truck alongside of her hauling a pontoon boat that had coolers strapped to it. It made her smile, reminiscing of weekends at the lake with her dad and brother. She recalled going fishing and sun tanning with her lawn chair sitting in the shallow water. Maybe on Memorial Day weekend, Dakota would join them on their first weekend trip to the lake of the summer. Angel shifted gears, speeding up when the truck in front of her exited off the highway. Finally, she could open it up and fly down the road faster than a mere fifty-five miles per hour. But something was wrong. Horribly wrong. She suddenly found herself screeching to a halt, sliding sideways when her transmission locked up. A split second decision had to be made. One she knew would hurt no matter what. Hold on to the bike in hopes of regaining control, or bailing and taking the fall, hopefully rolling off the highway instead of being thrown in front of a vehicle.
    She let go and pushed herself off the bike, doing her best to tuck and roll across the pavement . The sound of tires screaming and metal crunching were ringing in her ears. She didn’t scream or cry out when she hit the unforgiving concrete barrier even though her bones were snapping. Her helmet had flown off and her head connected with the pavement, unconsciousness took her into oblivion. The last thing on her mind as she went under was the smell of lilacs and fresh cut grass mixed with gasoline and wondering if she would live to see her family or Dakota ever again.
    ***
    The wail of sirens could be heard heading towards the west side of town. First responders, police and ambulances quickly took control of the scene. It was a miracle that no one else was injured other than the slender woman that lay with her legs bent at unnatural angles. Upon initial inspection of the scene, they found her helmet over two hundred yards away near the heap of the twisted metal of her motorcycle. She was breathing but unconscious. The left side of her face had a gash in it from the corner of her eye up her forehead, disappearing into her hairline. The paramedic covered the wound with a thick piece of gauze, pressing firmly to staunch the flow of blood. It was obvious her lower legs were broken when she slammed into the barrier and flipped over it, landing in the grass at the side of the highway. On-lookers had gotten out of their cars to catch a glimpse and were being held back by police, instructed to get back in their vehicles and move along. The two other people involved in the crash were shook up but okay, sitting on the side of the barrier as medics checked them over. The first officer on the scene shook his head and whispered to the paramedics that were trying to stabilize her on a stretcher and affix a neck brace on her.
    “Hey, that’s Angel Vega. I need to call her dad. Dammit…” Officer Jacobs cursed, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and dialing his longtime friend to break the news.
    The shock registered on the medics faces. It was hard to get a good look at her in the dusk with her face covered in blood but one look at the back of her helmet that sported a Vega’s Custom Bikes logo with wings on either side confirmed it. It was the town’s pride