When tragedy tears your world apart, where do you turn?

Warm, sticky blood drips onto my face, splattering near my eye. I reach to wipe it away, but my arm feels twenty pounds heavier.

I’m moving so slowly.

My head hurts. Bad.

The ground is on my right, beneath me. I’m sideways, held in place by the seat belt digging into my shoulder.

How did I get here? I can’t even tell whose car I’m in. It’s too dark. The little light I see is from outside. Headlights. Maybe a street lamp.

Another spattering of blood drips on me. From the driver’s seat.

From his seat.

Everything comes back to me in a dizzying flood.

I gasp for air. “Kade! Are you okay?”

Silence.

I reach around for the overhead light. It’s out of reach. I’m sideways.

The driver’s seat is empty.

“Kade!” My voice is shrill, my heart about to explode from worry. “Kade!”

I reach toward where he should be, but he’s not there. He doesn’t seem to be anywhere. I need to find him. My entire body hurts, but it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is finding Kade.

Got to get loose. I grope for the seatbelt button. It won’t push, won’t free me. Stuck! I pull, squirm, but the belt won’t loosen.

Oh! Kade keeps a pocket knife in the glove box for emergencies. This is definitely an emergency.

My fingers fumble, but I manage to open the box. The knife falls. Somehow I catch it before it slides out of my reach. I manage to pull out a blade without hurting myself further. Then I cut the seatbelt.

I crash against the window below me. My shoulder hits first, then my head, making my ears ring.

Where’s my purse? I need to call for help. It’s not on the floor—or I guess, the car door, since that’s what’s on the bottom now. I can’t find it anywhere.

First I’ll find Kade, then worry about making a call.

I force myself to stand, then I scramble over the seats and to the driver’s side window, which is shattered. The broken glass slices a deep gash in my arm as I start to climb through. Cringing, I try to ignore it. I’m halfway out of the car, and look around to get my bearings.

A streetlight shines about twenty feet ahead, casting a light glow on the asphalt. Another car is near Kade’s, but it’s completely flipped over. They had to have hit us. It’s hard to remember.

I still don’t see my boyfriend.

“Kade!” My voice sounds foreign, and it echoes around me in the too-quiet night. “Kade!”

Why isn’t anyone answering? Where is everyone? There’s another car. Maybe other people from the graduation party.

“Help!”

More silence.

I want to scream at the top of my lungs, but it won’t do any good. I just need to find Kade. He must need my help.

As I pull myself through the window, my hand slips in something, and I slide.

Rip!

My new dress, the one Kade picked out for me, is ruined. I’ve slipped in blood that soaks into the fabric and onto my side.

It’s not mine. Must be Kade’s.

My chest tightens. Squeezes the air from my lungs.

Where is Kade?

Something primal takes over, and I vault out of the car and jump down to the pavement. Pain shoots through my feet because I’m wearing heels. An ankle twists and I crumple to the ground.

But I don’t care about me or my injuries. The only thing that matters is finding Kade.

“Kade!”

Someone mumbles something.

I stumble toward the voice. It’s coming from the other car. Not Kade, but it’s someone who’s hurt.

But not Kade.

My throat closes up. I kick off my pinching shoes and hurry toward the muttering.

It’s a guy in his forties, wearing a red Hawaiian shirt, hanging halfway out of the crushed car. He’s not from the graduation party, like I thought.

“Help… my wife… please.” He stares at me with almost empty eyes. “My wife.”

Then I notice he has a cell phone in his hand. I grab it from him. “I’m calling for help!”

“My… wife.” He closes his eyes.

“Hold on!” My voice is even more shrill now. I make my way to the other side of the car as I fumble to find the emergency numbers without having to deal with his password.

The phone is ringing.

When I get to the other side of the car, what I see makes my stomach lurch. I’ve never seen so much blood in my life. Not even in slasher films or the gory lifeguard training videos.

A horrible odor hits me. I turn around and retch.

The emergency operator is talking on the phone.

I wipe my mouth and struggle to find my voice. “There’s been an accident.” My voice barely comes out louder than a whisper. I try to speak louder. “A bad accident. People are dying!”

The woman on the other end asks me some questions. I answer as best I can, but I don’t even know where we are. Need to find the street signs. I stumble away from the car and down the street. There, on the corner, I spy two signs. “Near the corner of Third Avenue and West Spruce Street. Hurry!”

“Stay on the line. What’s your name?”

Didn’t I already tell her? I struggle to swallow air. “I need to find my boyfriend!”

“Sutton, stay with me.”

I knew I’d told her my name. “Hurry!”

Then I drop the phone without ending the call. I limp back over to Kade’s car as fast as I can. He has to be near it. And he has to be in better shape than that couple. I can’t bear to think of anything happening to him.

We’ve already promised to marry each other after college. Agreed on three kids, a dog, and a cat. We’re going to grow old together. But before all of that, we have an action-packed summer to get through. We’re going to celebrate the year between high school and college with a backpacking trip, beach parties, and even a week building houses for the poor.

“Kade!”

I make my way around to the other side of his car.

Then I see him.

My knees nearly give out on me, but I run toward the person I love more than any other. “Kade!”

Shards of broken glass dig into my soles, but I don’t care. He’s lying on his side, sprawled halfway on the road and halfway on the grass. Not moving.

Hot tears sting my eyes worse than the broken glass in my feet. I call out to him, not sure I’m actually making sense.

It feels like forever, but I finally reach him. I crumple to the ground, put my fingers under his nose.

He’s not breathing.

Yes, he is. Warm air tickles my finger!

“Kade!” I wrap my arms around him and brush his black hair from his face. Some of it sticks to his forehead—his bloody forehead. “Kade, I’m here. It’s Sutton.”

He mumbles something, but I can’t make it out.

“Kade, I love you. Talk to me!”

His eyelids flutter.

I kiss his cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, babe. I’m right here.”

“My head hurts.”

I kiss his temple, getting blood on my mouth. “There was an accident. Paramedics are on the way.”

“My back.” He gasps for air.

“Help is coming.” I kiss his lips.

Kade mumbles again.

“Stay with me.” My voice cracks. I’m barely holding myself together, but I have to. For him. “We have to get ready for the backpacking trip, remember?”

His eyelids flutter again, then he opens them. “I’ll always love you.”

My heart sinks at the finality in his tone. Tears blur my vision. I blink them away. “Don’t do this! Don’t say goodbye.”

“You made my life worth living.”

A lump in my throat prevents me from responding.

“Enjoy the trip for me. I love you.”

“Kade, no!”

He closes his eyes.

“No!”

His breathing sounds like a whistle.

“Wake up!” I kiss him all over his face. “Wake up, please! I love you too!”

Kade takes a shallow breath. Then another.

“Kade!”

I wait for another breath. Wait some more.

Sirens sound in the distance.

“Help is here,” I whisper in his ear.

He still hasn’t taken another breath.

“Hang on, Kade!” Tears stream down my face, mixing with his blood. “Breathe!”

He doesn’t.

I press on his chin, forcing his mouth open. Then I plug his nose and breathe into his mouth. Once, twice, three times.

Tires squeal, stopping behind what’s left of the car.

“Sutton? Kade?”

I turn to see Anchor, Kade’s best friend. His eyes widen and his face pales. Then Anchor’s date shows up next to him. She covers her mouth with her hands and cries out.

“Sutton?” Anchor falls to his knees next to me. Tears shine in his eyes as he stares at Kade. “Is he…?”

“He’s gone.”

Anchor leans over and gives Kade mouth-to-mouth. Then he looks up at me with a wild look in his eyes. “This isn’t working!”

I collapse, then bury myself against Kade’s chest for what will surely be the last time. Choking on violent sobs, I realize my world will never be the same. My heart shatters into smaller pieces than the window glass.

I know I’ll never recover.

The ambulance is now here. But it’s too late.

My Kade is gone.

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When tragedy tears your world apart, where do you turn?

Sutton Scott has her entire life mapped out—getting her degree, marrying her longtime boyfriend Kade, then having three kids, a cat, and a dog. An idyllic life for the perfect couple.

Anchor Jones is scorned by love and has no desire to tie himself down like his best friend. Kade can do the domestic-bliss thing. Anchor has his sights set on adventure.

Then one night, the unthinkable happens.

A car accident claims Kade’s life. He dies in Sutton’s arms just before Anchor reaches them. With their worlds shattered, Anchor and Sutton turn to each other for comfort and healing. Feelings intensify, but so does guilt. The mutual attraction can’t be denied, but there’s a complication—Sutton reveals a secret that has the potential to change everything.

Anchor is jolted, conflicted. Falling for Sutton might have been a mistake.

Or maybe it was the best decision he ever made.

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Read chapter two here.