The road stretched dark and winding before me, the cliff’s edge looming closer with each passing second. I should have slowed down, but I didn’t. The numbness I sought was finally creeping in, dulling the sharp edges of my pain.
Then, the car swayed violently, and I realized too late that I had lost control. The tires skidded on the gravel, the steering wheel slipping from my grasp as the car veered dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. Panic surged through me, but my reflexes were too slow, numbed by alcohol.
I screamed as the car tipped forward, teetering on the edge. The world spun around me, a dizzying blur of darkness and fear. For a moment, I thought this was it.
Alone, broken, and betrayed.
Just as the car was about to plunge into the darkness, something slammed into it with a force that sent it skidding back onto solid ground. The impact knocked the breath out of me, and everything went black.
When I woke up, the beeping of machines and the sterile smell of antiseptic greeted me. I was in a hospital, lying in a bed with a dull ache radiating through my body. For a moment, I couldn’t remember how I got here, but then the memories came rushing back.