Weight

The night was thick with the smell of rain, wet pavement, and the metallic scent of blood that clung to the air like a fog. Naomi’s vision was a fractured kaleidoscope of lights—red and blue flashing in an endless loop, the sound of sirens filling her ears. She couldn’t make sense of it, not yet. Her head felt too heavy, the weight of it like a stone lodged between her temples. A sharp pain knifed through her chest as she struggled to inhale, the tightness of her seatbelt digging into her body, but there was no escape.

The screech of tires. The jarring impact. Then, silence.

She was still alive. She could feel the sticky heat of blood along her forehead, but it didn’t seem to matter—her body had gone numb, and she could only focus on the steady beeping sound of her own pulse in her ears. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She couldn’t tell if it was real or if it was part of the disjointed haze of her fading consciousness. The light from the screen was almost blinding when she tried to focus, but she could barely lift her hand.

A voice. Familiar, but distant. “Naomi! Naomi, stay with us! Can you hear me? Stay awake!”

Someone was holding her head, keeping her still. She could feel their fingers pressing against the side of her neck, checking for a pulse—her pulse. She wanted to reassure them she was still there, still fighting, but the words were trapped somewhere deep inside her.

"EMS is here," another voice shouted, urgent and frantic. "Get her out of the car—carefully, she’s got head trauma!"

There was movement, frantic shuffling, and Naomi’s body was being pulled—dragged, really—out of the wreckage. The cold night air hit her like a slap, a sharp reminder that she was still tethered to this world, but barely.

Her phone buzzed again. She could hear it vibrating on the seat beside her, but her fingers wouldn’t respond. The lights of the ambulance pulsed in time with her racing heartbeat, but everything felt so distant. Was it real? Was this real?

"Come on, Naomi," the voice called again, softer now, almost pleading. The hands on her body were gentler and more methodical as they stabilized her. But she couldn’t stay awake. She couldn’t—

Her phone buzzed again, louder this time. The EMS worker beside her froze. “She’s in and out of consciousness. We need to get her to the hospital, fast.”

A crackling noise in the air. The voice of someone on the other end of the phone. She could hear the urgency, the frantic edge in their tone.

"Naomi, answer me if you can hear me. Where are you? You need to let me know. I’m coming for you, please; just tell me you're alright."

But she couldn’t answer. Her world was shrinking, the edges of her vision blurring. The phone pinged once more—another message, another attempt to reach her, but all she could do was cling to the faint thread of life that remained. A cold gust of wind swept across her face, and for a moment, it felt like she was flying. Like she was somewhere else entirely, somewhere far away from the wreckage of the car, far away from the voices calling her name.

Naomi’s eyes fluttered shut, and for a brief, terrifying moment, she was alone.