âEven if I was, we would still need to get Amber to a hospital. If you donât take us back to the search-and-rescue camp right now, Amber will die.â
âNo!â he cried. âFix her up. Do something for her!â The van slid to the side. Doug over-steered in the other direction and nearly drove into the bank.
âYouâre high on drugs,â I told him as he drove on. âYou shouldnât be driving.â
âIâm fine.â
âLet me take over. Iâll drive Amber to the hospital. I can drop you off somewhere. You can take off.â
âShut up. Just shut up. You donât know shit. Iâll never leave Amber.â
I shook my head. âI donât understand why you are doing this.â
âI love her.â
âYou have a funny way of showing it,â I said.
âI told her I loved her. I told her Iâd do anything for her.â He started crying again. âShe said she didnât care. Sheâs seeing that asshole now.â
âLiam Peterson, you mean.â
âWe only broke up a couple of weeks ago, and sheâs already with him. She must have liked him before, when she was with me.â His hands gripped the steering wheel harder. âIf sheâd only listen, I could make her come back to me,â he said. âI could make her love me.â
âYou canât make someone love you,â I told him. âEspecially not like this.â
I glanced down at the girlâs pretty face. âI donât think youâre in love with Amber. I think youâre in love with the idea of Amber. Sheâs a basketball player. Sheâs popular. You want to be popular, like her.â
Sitting there in that van, I realized I was talking about myself as much as Doug. I had no real feelings for Trevor. I just liked the idea of him. I liked the idea of dating a firefighter .
âSheâs got to love me,â Doug said quietly.
I just wasnât getting through to this kid. He was too drugged up and emotional to think clearly. There was no way I was going to talk my way out of this situation. I had to act, and act now.
I leaned between the two front seats and pointed out the driverâs-side window. âLook out!â I cried, to distract him. Doug turned his head, and I grabbed the shotgun from his lap. But he caught me and yanked the gun out of my hand. He fired the weapon by accident as he did so, blasting a hole in the windshield.
âShit!â Doug yelled. He dropped the gun to the floor and put up both hands to protect his face. I turned the steering wheel hard to the right so we wouldnât drive off the road. The van careened into the bank.
I heard the crunch of metal as the front end slammed into rock. My body was hurled to the floor between the seats with the impact. Then everything went deadly quiet.
TEN
I touched the bump growing on my forehead. No blood. I took a moment to make sure I was all in one piece before turning my attention to Amber. I knew from the pain that I would have bruises all over my body in the morning. At least I didnât seem to have any broken bones.
In the crash, Amber had rolled to one side of the van. The mattress she was on had cushioned her. She didnât appear to have any more injuries. She was still breathing, though her pulse was even weaker than before.
That drug overdose was killing her. I had to get her off this mountain. Fast.
Doug was quiet in the driverâs seat, apparently knocked out. Blood dripped from his right hand, hanging limp by his side. I hadnât meant to cause the accident. Iâd just wanted to get the shotgun out of his hands. At least I had accomplished that, I thought. The gun now rested on the floor between the seats, along with his thermos.
All I had to do was find Dougâs cell and phone Search and Rescue. I just hoped Amber would hang on long enough for help to arrive.
I moved into the passenger seat and slid a hand