I gaze up at him. I’m not sure what to say. ‘Where’s your helmet?’
He takes a deep breath and claps my cheeks in his palms. ‘Fucking hell.’ He kisses me hard on the lips. ‘Why do you refuse to play ball?’ He kisses my nose, my lips, my eyes, my cheeks. ‘I sent John to get you, Ava. Why didn’t you let him take you to work?’
‘Because I wanted to shred Matt.’ I admit. ‘But you beat me to it.’
‘I was so angry, Ava.’
‘I would never have seen it through. I wouldn’t have killed our baby.’ I know I need to say this, at the very least.
‘Shhh.’ He continues placing his lips all over my face and my arms finally lift to hold him tightly. I never want to let go.
‘Excuse me, sir.’ The strange voice pulls both of our attention to the side where a policeman is standing. ‘Is the young lady okay?’
Jesse looks back at me and starts doing an all over visual assessment. ‘I don’t know. Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ I smile awkwardly. ‘What about the other drivers?’ I look across to the two wrecked cars.
‘Just a few cuts and bruises.’ The copper says. ‘You were all very lucky. Shall we get you checked over before we run through some questions?’ He smiles kindly and signals over to an ambulance.
I feel all dramatic and a bit of a bother. ‘I feel fine, honestly.’
Jesse growls and tosses me a fierce scowl. ‘I’m going to take that fine in my palm and slap you all over the arse with it.’
‘I am fine.’ My car’s not, though. It looks terrible. Mum’s insistence that we should never leave each other on a cross word has never hit so hard. I appreciate it fully, and I don’t ever plan on leaving Jesse on bad terms again. Never.
Jesse makes a meal of exhaling and flopping his head back. ‘Ava, don’t defy me on this, please. I have no problem with pinning you down in the ambulance so they can confirm you’re okay.’ His head drops back down. ‘Are you going the easy way, or the hard way?’
‘I’ll go.’ I agree quietly. I’ll do anything he says. I free myself from his chest. ‘My bag,’
‘I’ll get it.’ He sprints away.
‘My phone’s on the floor!’ I call after him, but he just waves his arm over his head to acknowledge that he heard. He’s back in seconds, and the policeman leads us to the ambulance, pushing his way through the growing crowds of pedestrians.
A paramedic on the back puts his hand out to me, but I don’t get the chance to grasp it. I’m lifted and placed in the white van. ‘Thank you,’ I smile down at Jesse and watch as the copper gets a pad and pen from his pocket.
‘Sir, while she’s being taken care of, do you mind answering a few questions?’
‘Yes, I do. You’ll have to wait.’
‘Sir, I’d like to ask you a few questions.’ The policeman isn’t asking nicely this time.
Jesse turns his full body into him, the edge of threat clear in his stance. He’s trampling a copper. ‘My wife and child are in the back of that ambulance and the only way you’re going to stop me from seeing to them is if I’m dead.’ He steps back and holds his hands out to the side. ‘So f**king shoot me.’
The policeman looks up at me, and I smile apologetically. The last thing I need is Jesse being arrested. I don’t know whether it’s put down to emotions running high, but the copper nods and gestures for Jesse to join me. My trampling Lord’s glower is still fixed to his face as he turns back towards me, but it soon falls away. His face is level with my stomach, but his eyes are currently dropped and looking at my bare legs.
Reaching forward, he runs his finger up the inside of my calf. ‘Baby, you’re cut.’
I glance down. ‘Where?’ I can’t feel anything. I pull at my dress, hitching it higher, but there is no sign of any cut. Higher it goes; still more blood but no cut. I look at Jesse in confusion, but he’s frozen as he watches me searching for the source of the blood. His eyes lift to mine. They are wide and uneasy. It doesn’t sit well. I start shaking my head as he moves forward, taking my dress up as far as it can go.
There is no cut.
The blood is coming from my knickers.
‘No!’ I cry out, realisation crashing into me like a tornado.
‘Oh Jesus,’ He yanks the hem of my dress back down and jumps up to the ambulance, engulfing me in his arms. ‘Fucking hell, no.’
‘Sir?’
‘Hospital. NOW!’
I’m placed on gurney gently and hear the slamming of metal doors, making me jump. I turn into his chest, clutching at his t-shirt and hiding my face from him. ‘I’m sorry.’