Page 77 of Until The Lights Go Out

Come on.

The fire surged closer. I had to get out, I had to get a better grip. I yanked off my left glove with my teeth and threw it somewhere into the cockpit. My bare hand grabbed the bent metal again. I was met with instant agony of the scorching metal burning my hand as I pulled with every ounce of my strength, trying to free my leg. My throat was raw as I screamed through it. The skin on my palm was burning quickly, pain shooting up my wrist so violently that my vision blurred. But I finally got enough grip to pull.

The wreckage shifted slightly. Not enough. I pulled harder, sobbing now without realizing it. My burned hand slipped, slick with blood and sweat.

“Maisey stay still!” someone shouted from outside the car.

“I can’t!” I cried.

The flames were too close now. I could feel the heat through my suit. Adrenaline took over. I braced both hands against the cockpit and wrenched my trapped leg backward with everything I had. A sickening, ripping pain exploded through my entire body. My leg came free, but the relief was quickly followed by pain that bled through my entire body. I screamed so hard my throat burned.

The marshals reached me immediately after that.

Hands grabbed under my arms, dragging me from the cockpit just as flames swallowed the side of the car. The second they pulled me clear, I looked down.

I wished I hadn’t.

My leg looked wrong.

Horribly wrong.

The race suit was shredded open from knee to thigh, skin split apart beneath it, blood everywhere. I could see exposed muscle beneath the torn fabric. I gagged, feeling like I was going to be sick. Everything was wrong, and the world was spinning so violently I could barely see the blur of the marshals’ orange vests or the medics rushing forward. My burned hand throbbed violently as I held it to my chest. I tried to hang on, but everything started fading in and out, and it was too hard to keep my eyes open. They felt so heavy.

Track lights blurred overhead as they rushed me across the asphalt.

I heard someone say possible crush injury. Another voice said severe burns. But my eyes felt like weights, and blinking alone felt eons long. Maybe I could just close my eyes, maybe that would be good.

I vaguely heard screaming, then a familiar voice, so calm and reassuring. One that immediately made my heart relax.

I knew that voice.

I loved that voice.

23

THEO | 18 YEARS OLD

DAY OF THE CRASH - 10 YEARS AGO

The second the red flag appeared on the overhead board, my stomach dropped. Yellow sectors flooded the timing screen first. Then red.

SESSION STOPPED.

My engineer’s voice crackled through the radio, too calm. Way too calm. “Red flag, red flag. All cars return to the pit lane immediately.” Cars slowed, stacking up and crawling toward the pits, but my pulse only climbed higher.

“What happened?” I asked sharply, already knowing this wasn’t debris or weather.

Silence.

Then—

“Big crash at Turn 9.”

Ice flooded my chest.

My hands tightened around the wheel so hard my knuckles hurt inside my gloves.

“Who? Is everyone okay?”