Chapter 2

She sat there, her jaw wide and her eyes wider, looking at the ring and Justin. Her silence was only a couple of seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Justin. 

“Yes!  I’ll marry you!” Tears started welling up in her eyes. He kissed her, then put the ring on her finger. It was a 2 carat round cut diamond, with a halo of smaller diamonds around it. 

They continued dinner; the restaurant gave them champagne and dessert to celebrate the engagement. After dinner, they got their coats and waited at the valet station for their cars. It was sprinkling, but they stood under a covered area. 

“My place?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I don’t think Heather would want us at our place to ‘celebrate’, so yes. I’ll see you there,” she said, giving him a seductive kiss. 

They got into their cars. Nicki left first, with Justin following close behind. They got on the freeway, traffic was letting up a bit. The rain, however, was getting worse. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a car zooming up in the lane next to him in his side view mirror. Justin let up on the gas a bit to slow down. 

Stupid drivers either go too slow in the rain or drive like everything is normal.

The car passed Justin, but hit a puddle. It began to fishtail and spin, before slamming into a car a few lengths ahead of him. 

Justin all but slammed on his brakes, pulling over to check on the cars. He ran out to his trunk, and got out some road flares. He lit them to help avoid a bigger pileup. He got back in his car to call 911. 

“Yes, I’m on the 405, northbound, a car was speeding and spun out of control, hitting another car. I put flares out before calling you, but otherwise haven’t looked to see if there are any injuries. I can stay at the scene if needed. Thank you.”

Police and an ambulance were on their way, he could hear sirens approaching in the distance. He approached the cars. His heart was in his throat, his stomach in knots again. 

“No!  NICKI!!”  He ran to her car. The driver had slammed into her car, right against her door. The wheel base and door panel were a mess, her car was totaled. 

He took his key to her car and unlocked the passenger door. Her window was smashed, glass bits on her lap and the floor. Her front airbag had deployed, but he could see blood on her lap. 

“Nicki, Nicki, are you ok? Can you hear me? Nicki??” he begged, hoping for a response. 

The ambulance arrived, and he jumped out of the car. “Help! My fiancée is in here! There’s blood, she’s not responding!”

He stood back so the EMTs could do their job, working to free her from the car. He felt so helpless, there was nothing he could do but watch and wait. He stood in the pouring rain, crying, hoping that she would be ok. The police took his statement of what he’d seen, they gave him a blanket to help him stay warm. He refused to leave until he knew she was ok. 

“Go sit in your car, sit, it’s safer there. We’ll let you know more once they can get her out. Pulling her from the passenger side could hurt her more, it’s safer to get her from her side of the car. She’s your fiancée, you said?” Justin nodded, at a loss for words, his throat dry. 

He ran his hand along the back of his neck, sitting powerless in his car. Nicki, please be ok…