Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

his car shot back directly in our path. Eddie hit the brakes hard, but because his eyes weren’t on the road, he was far too close by then. We weren’t wearing seat belts in the rear, and Noel, who was in a bad angle at the moment, literally flew forward between the two front seats and slammed his head into the dashboard, just as Eddie’s SUV crashed into the rear of the elderly man’s automobile, spinning it around.
    The sound was deafening. The airbags popped out in the front, squeezing Eddie and Susie back. Kent and I managed to hold on to each other and just bang into the back of Susie’s seat. Bobbi fell to the floor, twisting her arm but not breaking it.
    For a moment, no one spoke. We were all in too much shock. The air around me seemed electric. Ifelt nauseated and dizzy but held myself together. The echo of the crash still reverberated in my ears. Every bone in my body was still vibrating. I raised myself a little to look out the windshield at the mess. There was a fender on the road, and the entire rear of the other car was bashed in as if it were made of clay. I could see the elderly man was in shock himself but got out of his car and then swayed and fell back against it. The noise of the crash brought people out of his house. I saw an elderly woman and a younger woman hurrying down the driveway to him, the elderly lady screaming. Then Bobbi screamed. She held up her hand to show us there was blood trickling down the side of Noel’s head.
    Eddie sat there, gaping down at Noel.
    “Hey, Noel, hey,” Eddie said, shaking him a little. Noel didn’t respond.
    “He’s unconscious. Do something, Eddie!” Bobbi shouted at him.
    He fumbled with his cell phone for a moment and then just got out and screamed for an ambulance. The younger woman hurried back into the house. The elderly lady guided the man, whom I assumed was her husband, back into the car to sit and wait.
    Kent started to move Noel.
    “Don’t!” I cried, putting my hand on his arm. “Remember what we were told in class when the paramedics talked to us. He might have a spinal injury that you’ll make worse.”
    He pulled his hands off Noel as if Noel’s body had turned to molten steel.

    “Is he bleeding badly?” Susie asked through her tears.
    “No,” Bobbi said, a little calmer. “But he’s not regaining consciousness. Everyone else all right?”
    “I hurt my arm, but it’s not broken.”
    “We’re okay,” Kent said.
    Both Susie and Bobbi started to cry. I didn’t. Maybe I was in a state of shock, but I felt a certain calmness, almost as if I had left my body and was above it all watching, just like some uninvolved observer, detached enough to do and say the right things.
    “Put your jacket gently under Noel’s head,” I told Kent.
    He nodded, stripped it off, and did as I said.
    “Does Eddie have a first-aid kit in the car?” I asked Susie.
    “I don’t know.”
    She shouted for him. He was now screaming at the old man for being an idiot. His wife started shouting back. I opened the door and got out.
    “Stop it!” I shouted at Eddie. “You’re not doing any good. Wait for the police and the ambulance. Do you have a first-aid kit?”
    He looked at me, then muttered some curse words, and returned to the car. I got back in, too.
    “No, I don’t have a first-aid kit,” he said. “They shouldn’t let people that old drive. He looks like he’s ninety.”
    “You weren’t watching the road, Eddie. None of us was,” I said.
    He spun around.“Bullshit. The guy just backed out without looking.”

    “Forget about it,” Kent said. “Just let Eddie talk to the police,” he told me sternly.
    Eddie glared a moment more, and then we all sat there, dazed and still, until we heard the sound of sirens. The patrol car arrived first, and Eddie got out again to talk to the police. One of the officers looked in at Noel.
    “Has he been unconscious all this time?” he asked.
    Bobbi said yes. He felt for Noel’s pulse and then turned and spoke into the phone on his shoulder. Minutes later, the ambulance arrived. We all got out and watched the paramedics carefully remove Noel from the SUV and get him onto the stretcher to load him into the ambulance. One of the patrolmen began to take down our names, addresses, phone numbers, and information about Noel. While he did that, a tow truck arrived and began to hook up Eddie’s SUV. The elderly man, whose name we learned was Mr. Morgan, was able to drive his car back onto his