A Beautiful Lie

Tomo gasped for breath, eyes tight shut, praying it was all a horrible dream. His cheer of surprise and happiness had turned into a scream of terror as the tree loomed, but now everything was still, and for a moment he thought it really had been all in his mind. The sound and smell of hissing smoke told him otherwise, however, and he slowly opened his eyes onto the wreckage of the old car, and the bodies around him. The front of the wagon was wrapped around a tree trunk, smoke flowing in through the open windows. After performing a self-check, Tomo found a deep cut in his side, which was bleeding heavily. He tore off his shirt to wrap tightly around the wound, and, finding nothing else more serious than a few flourishing bruises and an aching neck, he turned immediately to Shannon, unconscious next to him. “Shan,” he said, shaking his friend’s shoulder gently. “Come on Shan, wake up!” But Shannon remained still and silent. Tomo checked his pulse and breathing, and after determining that both were strong, leaned across to Shannon’s fiancé.

As soon as Tomo looked at Penne, seeing the unnatural angle of her neck and the stillness of her chest, he knew that nothing could be done. Still, he looked for a pulse just in case and, feeling nothing, slumped back in his seat, staring around aimlessly as tears stung his eyes. Suddenly, there came movement from the front passenger seat, and Tomo jumped forward to find Jared looking around, wide-eyed and gaping. “Tomo,” he croaked, before starting to cough and gag on the black smoke surrounding him.
Tomo thumped him on the back, swiping at the smoke choking his lungs before forcing open Jared’s door and helping him out of the car. “Come on Jay, deep breaths… that’s it, that’s great.”
Jared gulped in fresh oxygen, only realising that his left leg wouldn’t support his weight when it buckled underneath him.

Tomo caught Jared and lowered him slowly into a sitting position on the ground. “I think it’s broken,” he said, as he examined the leg closely. “Well, you’re lucky… at least you’re alive.” Tomo sniffed as he pulled out his mobile to call 911. Jared saw the look on his friend’s face, and terror flooded through him like poison.
“Are the others alright?” he rasped. “Tomo, is Shannon ok?”
“He’s breathing…” Tomo started talking rapidly into the phone, the rest of his answer cut off.

Jared stood shakily and limped towards the back door of the wrecked car. Tomo ran towards him, stowing the mobile back in his pocket. “No, Jay, sit down, your leg-”
“I don’t care about my f*cking leg, I want to see if my brother’s ok!” Jared pushed himself back through the passenger door with a grunt of pain and sat before Shannon, cupping his older brother’s face in trembling hands. Tomo got back into the car as well, watching Jared’s desperate attempts to wake Shannon through wide, fearful eyes.
“Shan please… please wake up,” Jared pleaded, tears rolling down his face. He looked around at Tomo, “We have to get him out of here, he needs fresh air.” So the two of them very carefully picked Shannon up, trying not to change his position too much in case he had internal injuries, carried him outside and laid him on the grass. Jared told Tomo to go back and check Dom and Penne, sitting in the dry grass to keep watch over Shannon.

After a while, Shannon gave a soft noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh, and Jared jumped, grimacing as pain shot through his broken leg. “Shannon! Oh, thank God!” he cried, voice thick with emotion, relief sweeping his body as Shannon’s large brown eyes opened to stare at him.
“What happened?” Shannon murmured weakly.
“We crashed,” Jared replied, “into a tree. How do you feel, does it hurt anywhere?”
“Penne. Where’s Penne?”
Jared glanced back at the wreckage, then said, “She’s still in the car-”
“What?!” Shannon tried to sit up, but Jared held him down with a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Tomo’s in there now making sure her and Dom are ok. I don’t want you to move, in case you have internal injuries.”
“Jay, I have to know if she’s alright.” Shannon gripped Jared’s shirt tightly. “Can you go and make sure, please, I have to know she’s ok.”
Jared hesitated. He didn’t want to leave Shannon, but knew that he would have asked the same in that position. “Fine. I’ll be right back, don’t move.”

Back in the car, Jared found Tomo looking Dom over.
“I can’t wake him up either. Looks like he smashed his head on the wheel. How’s Shan?”
“He’s awake, he wants to know that Penne’s alright. Is she…?” Just like Tomo, Jared could tell that Penne wasn’t ‘alright’ the moment he looked at her. His stomach dropped, and he turned back to Tomo, who silently confirmed. “No. No, no, no, she… she can’t be… no!” Penne had been like a sister to Jared, was going to be his sister-in-law.
Now he took her limp hand, kissing it softly, and at that moment Shannon called out, “Jared? Is she alright?” Jared swore. Tomo offered to tell Shannon, but Jared felt that he had to be the one. Taking up Penne’s body, he took a deep breath and carried her out of the car.

Shannon was starting to think that something was very wrong. Jared had been in the car for a while, and hadn’t responded when he’d called out. Finally there was movement, and Jared climbed out of the wrecked car with Penne in his arms. “Jay, finally. How is she?” Jared didn’t answer; he merely stood, staring at Shannon. Shannon noticed that he was crying, noticed the complete stillness of Penne’s body. The terrible truth hit him like a bullet. Every nerve in his body went numb; his very heart seemed to stop beating. He couldn’t - wouldn’t - believe it.

“Jared, tell me she’s alright.”
Jared brought the body over to Shannon, laying Penne next to him on the ground and gripping his shoulders. “Shannon I’m… I’m so sorry. There was nothing we could do, I think it was instant-”
“Don’t say that. She… she can’t be… no… she’s not.” Shannon finally turned his head towards Penne. He had been procrastinating, but had finally built up the courage to look at her. Now he reached out a hand to run over her tangled hair, whispering in her ear, “Penne, come on now. Talk to me Penne. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, the ambulances will come and the doctors will fix you up. Don’t worry, I’m right here, you’ll be fine.”

“Jared!” Tomo was shouting, still in the car. Jared gave Shannon a clearly worried look, told him again not to move, and ran back to the car. Shannon rolled onto his side to hold Penne close, having not even heard Jared’s warning, and not paying attention to the sharp pain in his chest and the sudden difficulty in drawing breath.
“You’ll be fine, Penne. We’re going to get married and grow old together. You’ll be fine.”

Back in the wreckage, Jared saw the problem immediately. Tomo was bending over Dom, who was convulsing in his seat. “Jared, what do I do? He just started fitting all of a sudden.”
Jared swore, terror leaping inside him again, and took charge. “Let’s get him out of here, he needs space and fresh air.” The two of them lifted Dom and, holding him tightly, bore him out into the open, setting him down as quickly as possible. Jared then rolled Dom onto his side, as he’d been taught by his mother, who was a nurse, and checked to make sure his airways were clear. Gradually, the convulsions ceased, and Dom lay still once more. Jared, satisfied that his friend was ok for the moment, tried to stand and found himself dizzy and unable to balance properly.
“Jay, sit down for a while,” Tomo advised as he staggered. “Just sit still for a bit.”
Everything started to go hazy as Jared heard sirens, and the flashing lights of ambulances came into view. “Finally,” he sighed, and thought no more.