Chapter Thirteen
Jonah
I had driven north and south on the highway for over thirty minutes, looking for any signs of Ally. Granted, the storm hadn’t made it easy to see anything at all but still I searched. I called Shane to let him know what was going on and he was joining in the search. Backup was coming. Glancing at the time, I realized that was about twenty minutes ago, so any moment now there would be more people on the lookout for her. Panic crept in a bit and I quickly reined myself in. I had been in worse situations than this. I could handle it.
Executing another U-turn, I was headed back toward the diner when my phone beeped.
“Shane tell me you have her?” I demanded quickly.
“No, I’m sorry, Jonah, but I am here. Where are you? What direction are you going? I will go the opposite and we will find her I know it. The rain is letting up a bit and the sky is starting to lighten. We got this man. Do you hear me brother?” I heard Shane’s words, just barely.
“I am headed toward the diner, you head the opposite way and we will meet up,” I ordered quickly and hung up.
As I hung up, I noticed it had eased up on the downpour. What fell from the sky was now more of softer, steadier rain. I slowed and put my windows down, not caring if the interior got wet. It was a clearer visual path to any sign of where she could be. She was smart. She would know what to do in a storm like this. I had already checked all the overpasses, knowing myself that those could be used as a place of refuge if you had no other choice. A person just needed to know where in the underpass to seek shelter. No luck. Up and down the highway, I went trying so damn hard to find her. But mother nature wouldn’t cooperate.
What the hell was that? Something blue flapped in the wind, but what the hell was it? I sped up just a bit and scooted my truck onto the shoulder to get a better look. What the fu… I put the vehicle in park, jumped out and ripped the item off the mile marker sign. It was a woman’s purse. It had opened during the storm and not much was left inside. I got back inside so I could get a better look. Digging around, I found a zipped pocket on the inside and when I opened it I pulled out Ally’s driver’s license. Fuck baby, you did it! I turned the engine off and got back out of the Suburban. Dialing Shane, I told him what I found. I demanded him to get his ass to mile marker eighty-six because my girl left us a trail.
Grabbing my survival kit that I kept in the back of the Suburban, I strapped it on. I headed to the edge of the embankment and cursed beneath my breath when I saw how steep it was. Fuck, if she had fallen from here, it wouldn’t be good. I surveyed every inch I could see and finally I saw her. Not moving. Laying on her back with something white on her hand.
“Fuck baby,” I whispered. “Please be ok.”
I was able to scale down the side fairly easily, though I did slide at times. There was no way she could get back up this embankment without help. Gravel helped a bit for traction, but now there was too much mud. As I had gotten closer, I could see that she was unconscious, arms spread out to her sides. the white that I saw from above, as I got closer I could see it had blood on it. The sight of the red marring the scrap of white, spurred me to hasten my descent. With my gloves on and my feet positioned at an angle, I shifted into a purposeful slide to get to her faster.
I went a little too fast and almost overshot her. Skidding to a stop at her waist level, I was able to get a good look. My eyes quickly assessed her condition. Where the hell was her shirt? Ahh, that’s what was wrapped around her hand. Good thinking, baby. But her sweater was wide open, the only thing covering her from the waist up was a thin, wet, white bra. Blood streaks marked her stomach, maybe from her trying to hold her sweater closed. Squatting down, I felt for her pulse. It was steady, thank God, but a bit slow. Hypothermia. Taking off my jacket, I tucked it around her to help ward off some of the rain. I gently felt her arms, ribs, and legs, checking for injury. When I reached her foot, it was swollen immensely. Damn. I heard Shane’s truck in the distance, so I knew he would be able to help me get her up to the top.
To protect her from the still falling rain, I opened my backpack and pulled out the folded poncho, tucking it all around her. I leaned in close to her face and spoke her name. “Ally? Ally, baby wake up. Come on, honey. You need to wake up now. Come on, follow my voice. You can do this.”
I gently spoke to her, as I started to caress her face. Such a beautiful woman. My woman. I knew it with each breath I took. Leaning in, I placed a gentle kiss on those beautiful lips then said, “Hey there, Freckles. Come on, open those beautiful eyes of yours. Come on, baby.”
As I waited for backup, I started planning how we would move her. It would be difficult to say the least. I put my body directly over hers, putting my weight on my forearms and knees to shield her from the rain as much as possible. Mesmerized by her beautiful face, I kept trying coax her to wake.
“Ally! Time to rise and shine young lady! Wake up!” I demanded.
She moaned low and deep. Yes!
“Come on, baby. You can do this. You must wake up now,” I nearly begged this time.
Moaning again, her eyes fluttered several times before they fully opened. Assessing her eyes as she stared at me I was certain she didn’t have a concussion, but would have a hell of a headache from the bump by her temple.
“Hey there, Freckles. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see those beautiful green eyes.” I smiled warmly at her. “You did good, baby. Good. That was genius, tying your purse to the mile marker. I honestly don’t think I would have found you until the storm let up more,” I told her with genuine pride.
“Jonah? Jonah! I don’t want to die! I don’t want Sam to die! Help us please!” she begged me as she tried to grab onto me and moaned in pain, as her hand closed around my arm.
“Baby, I’ve got you. You’re safe. I promise. Sam is safe. Frannie picked him up from school when we couldn’t find you.”
I tried to reassure her, though I was not exactly sure what she meant when she said she didn’t want to die. As I gazed into those beautiful eyes, I could see the confusion in them. Would she finally tell me what’s really going on with her and Sam? I waited patiently for her to continue.
“He’s found us, hasn’t he? Oh, my god! Move, I have to go. Now!” She was getting hysterical and I realized she didn’t know where she was and what had happened.
“Ally. You were caught in the storm and fell down an embankment. You have a few injuries, but you are going to be ok baby. I’ve got you now and I will never let you go again. I will not let you push me away. Got it?” I told her sternly but with heated passion. My mind raced with who “he” was and why she was deathly afraid of him.
“Who are you so scared of, Ally? Who is “he?” Tell me please. Let me help you.”
Nearly begging her, I leaned in closer and gave her a mere brush of my lips before leaning back to stare into her eyes. She stared back and then she started looking around at where she was. I saw the moment realization sunk in.
“You found me? Because of my freaking purse? Jonah, I tried to get up the embankment. I tried so hard but I kept slipping. I wouldn’t give up, but I was so cold and tired. I laid down and closed my eyes for just a second. I know I shouldn’t have, but I thought it would be ok for just a minute,” she said all in one breath trying to explain as if she had made a mistake.
That, I didn’t understand. She was so hard on herself. I just smiled at her and shook my head. I heard engines above us and a couple of doors slammed closed. Help was finally here.