Defiant Heir (The Heirs #3) - Michelle Heard Page 0,4

side as our vehicle rolls before landing back on its tires. I’m slammed into the seat and then against the door. A burning pain spreads up my neck and face, and for a moment, everything blacks out.

‘Starting 9-1-1 call. To cancel, press the 9-1-1 button on the mirror.’

The smell of burning rubber and oil fills my nose. Opening my eyes, I struggle to make sense of what’s going on.

‘Calling 9-1-1.’

Turning my head to the left, I let out a painful groan from the ache in my neck and head. I suck in a breath of air, and then my eyes focus on the driver's side.

I hear a dialing tone.

Shit.

It takes another couple of seconds before it begins to sink in that we were in an accident. “Kao,” I croak, my voice sounding foreign to my own ears. My body begins to shiver uncontrollably.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” I hear an operator answer.

“A-accident,” I struggle to say through the shock dazing me.

“Okay, we have your GPS coordinates. Emergency services have been dispatched. Are you hurt?”

My eyes are still widely glued to Kao. He doesn’t move, and it makes panic flare through me like hot streaks of lava. “Kao!” When there’s still no movement from him, I struggle with numb fingers to unclip my seatbelt. Once I’m free, I turn my body toward him and lean forward.

“Ma’am, are you hurt?”

My lips part and searing worry scorches my heart. “There’s blood on the left side of his head.”

“Did you say there’s blood on your head?”

“N-no,” I swallow hard on the bile pushing up my throat. “My boyfriend. There’s blood on the side of his head.”

“Help is on the way. Okay?”

I shake my head as my worry quickly morphs into ice-cold terror. “H-he’s not moving,” I stammer through the distress I’m feeling.

“Emergency services should be there any minute now,” the operator assures me, but it does nothing to calm me.

Lifting my right arm, I press my fingers to Kao’s pulse, and when I feel a beat, I let out a breath of relief. “He’s alive.”

“That’s good. Ma’am, what’s your name?”

“F-Fallon. Fallon Reyes.” I move a little closer to Kao, my eyes frantically scanning over his body. Fear shudders through me when I see more blood staining his shirt on his left side. “There’s also blood on his left side.”

“Where, Ma’am?”

“On his side, a couple of inches above his hip. There’s more blood.” I suck in a desperate breath. “Oh, God.”

“Ma’am, help is on the way. Is anyone else hurt? Was another car involved?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Okay, stay calm. Keep talking to me. What else do you see?”

Frantically, I glance around, taking in the crushed dashboard, the deflated airbags, the smoke rising from the front. My eyes snap back to Kao, and it’s only when I see the blood again that the realization settles hard in my chest.

We were in an accident.

Kao’s hurt.

“Hurry!” I cry. I bring a trembling hand to Kao’s face but stop an inch from touching him, scared I’ll hurt him more. “Kao? Baby?” A sob escapes my lips. “Kao?”

“You should hear the sirens any second now,” the operator says.

Oh, God.

Please.

Let him be okay.

I lean a little closer, wanting so badly to hold him. “Kao?”

Emergency sirens fill the air, and moments later, my world spins into chaos when I’m pulled from the car. “No! Please. I want to stay with him.”

The paramedic says something, but all I can hear are the different sirens from the emergency vehicles arriving at the scene. I’m placed on a stretcher, and my surroundings begin to blur as I’m rushed toward an ambulance.

No.

I need to stay with him.

When I get a glimpse of firemen moving around Kao’s car, that’s nothing but crumpled steel, horror washes all sense from me.

Noise fills the air, a mixture of urgent voices, sirens, and the firemen cutting through the metal of the vehicle, and then it’s shut out as the doors of the ambulance are pulled closed.

My body feels numb, and I manage to blink a couple of times before darkness drags me away from the nightmare.

Feeling groggy, I open my eyes.

“Fallon? Honey?” I hear Mom’s voice. Sluggishly, I move my eyes in her direction. Her face is strained with worry. “Oh, baby. You’re going to be okay,” she says, relief and exhaustion coating her words. “Thank God.”

I open my mouth but first have to swallow hard on the dry lump stuck in my throat. “What happened?”

“You were in an accident.” I feel Mom’s tight hold on my hand.

Frowning, I sift through my