Reborn in Time: Reclaiming My Life

Chapter 1 The End, The Beginning

Abject terror replaced the pain and anger I felt at the betrayal I had just discovered. A betrayal I had long suspected was now confirmed. A betrayal, I had tearfully fled, grabbing my purse and car keys. A betrayal that reached beyond the scene in that cursed bedroom. A betrayal that extended to this very moment as I tried frantically to save my own life. Damn them! Damn those traitors to hell.

Frantically, I pumped the brakes. A futile attempt to slow the headlong rush of the SUV on the steep grade. Nothing happened. The vehicle picked up speed, tires screeched as I steered around yet another curve on this descent down the mountain road. I snapped on the four-way flashers to alert oncoming vehicles.

My arms ached with the strain of trying to control the direction of the vehicle. The momentum of the SUV careening down the serpentine road of Cape Smokey flung my body against the restraints of the seat belt. I changed gears into second then shifted into first, as I slowly pulled on the emergency brake. Which held for only a brief period, but gave up the ghost, smoke poured from the front wheels. The incline was too steep; the emergency braking procedures failed.

As I gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles white, a tour bus rounded the turn, straddling the center line, heading straight for me. I wrenched the wheel to the right, out of the path of the bus. The right front end of the SUV slammed into the rock face, the impact spun the vehicle around, flipped it to roll, until it came to rest on the driver’s side. My head whipped into the front roof support pillar, then the windshield and into the pillar again.

A blinding pain exploded in my head. Blood pooled in my eyes, streamed down my face into my hair, dripped onto the demolished door. This is so much like the accident that killed my parents, I thought. The accident in which experts had discovered the brake lines had multiple pinholes, allowed the brake fluid to leak, rendered the braking system useless. This felt the same. Someone tampered with my brakes.

Then I remembered. Jane. Her hands had been dirty. Her clothes looked like she had been rolling around in the dirt. Prissy as she appeared, she knew cars. Rowan had told me she learned to work on cars from her father. Knew how to change a tire. Knew how to bleed brake lines. Knew how to muck with said brake lines. I knew then she had planned my death. She and Rowan together. Bastards!

I knew nothing could save me. I was losing too much blood. The steering wheel compressed my torso, restricted my breathing. I’m sure my ribs are broken. Had punctured my lungs, blood bubbled from my mouth with every breath I struggled to take through the crushing pain. I was getting weaker as my lifeblood drained from my body, pooled on the ground outside the shattered window of the crumpled SUV.

Smoke pouring from the engine seeped into the crumpled passenger compartment, filling my lungs with the acrid odor. Flames licked at my feet. I knew the fire would spread along the fuel line, reach the gas tank.

Help was too far away; despite the muffled voices I could hear, or the people I could vaguely see, as they stood back, horrified expressions on their faces. As my consciousness slipped away, I thought, “If I could do it all over again, I would do it differently. If I had another chance, Rowan and Jane would pay for what they have done.”

My eyes closed, my breathing slowed. This is it, I thought. My time on earth is up. I will see my parents again. The deafening roar as the gas tank exploded was the last thing I heard. I felt my soul leave my body. Pulled upwards into that flash of heat and brilliant white light.

Rebirth?

The steady beeping of a heart monitor, the distant murmur of soft voices drowned out by someone’s quiet crying.

“Ava,” a familiar female voice whispers close to my ear. “Ava, you need to wake up. I can’t lose my best friend. Please wake up.”

Mia. The voice was Mia’s. My friend since high school. My ride or die. She was here.

But where exactly was ‘here’? Why am I not in agonizing pain? How am I alive? I know I died. I felt my breathing stop. I felt my heart stop. I remembered the explosion and the bright white light.

“Mia?” my voice croaked, my throat dry. “Mia?” I tried again.

“Ava? AVA!” Mia’s voice came out sharp with excitement. “Ava, thank God, you’re awake.”

“Water,” I croaked again. “I need water.”

I could hear her move; the sound of water being poured into a glass. A straw was placed between my dry, cracked lips. “Tiny sips, Ava. Tiny sips.”

I did as she instructed, taking tiny sips of water, wetting, and cooling my parched throat, making it feel less like sandpaper.

“What time is it?” I asked, confused.

“It’s ten-thirty in the morning. I’ve been here since nine. The nurse called me saying you were showing signs of waking up.”

I tried to open my eyes, but with no success. Trembling, I raised a hand, brushing it across my face, only to encounter what felt like gauze bandages. Talk about déjà vu. The same thing as after the accident that killed my parents.

“Mia,” I whispered. “Why are my eyes bandaged? Is Rowan here? I don’t want to see him.”

“Oh, Ava, sweetie. You were injured in a car accident. Head injuries, which put you in a coma. Flying glass and debris damaged your corneas. They should have been healed by now, but your asshole husband, Rowan, told the doctors not to worry about your eyes until they knew if you were going to live.” Anger and disgust colored her voice. “He hasn’t been to see you even once since you were brought in.”