It felt like an eternity before the world went still.
Autumn drifted back to consciousness to find rescue teams all around her.
She lay on a stretcher, paramedics leaning over to ask how she felt, but her head spun so badly she could not make sense of their words.
Then she saw Simon on the stretcher beside her, soaked through with blood.
She reached for the nearest medic, her voice breaking. "Please save him. Please... anything, any cost, just keep him safe. Don't worry about me..."
She tried to push herself up, to beg on her knees, and only the paramedics' gentle restraint stopped her.
The effort was too much. Her vision faded, and she slipped back into darkness, her hand still locked tight around Simon's.
When she woke again, she was in a hospital room. Simon sat beside her, half
