Katie breathed deeply as she pedaled as hard as she could, up and down and up and down. The hill before her was tall and the road went straight up, seeming to never end. But it did, she knew, she had done this before.

Her legs, not slender but not tree stumps, were as red and as hot as her face in the desert sun and every time they arced upwards and downwards beads of sweat were flung off into the blue yonder to fly up and then fall down to the sand. Katie's hair would have reached down to around an inch below her shoulders if it weren't tied up into a bushy loose ponytail that hung across her left shoulder and bounced with every up and down movement.

The speedometer mounted on the handlebars of her bike read a painstaking five miles an hour and the surrounding landscape crawled by.

Almost... Almost...

There! Katie had crested the top of the hill and before her unfolded the beautiful scenery of the surrounding forest and the fields of newly sprouting wild flowers and waving heather. The pedaling was suddenly heaps and bounds easier and Katie was able to sit down on her bike seat and take in the clearness of the air was amazing, and her soft rounded face and slender lips soon turned into a satisfied grin.

But now came the best part, the most rewarding part. Slowly, ever so slowly her bike began to move faster and faster down the pavement as the ground went from flat to steep in the space of only a few feet. Six miles an hour. Seven. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty. Forty.

Soon the wheels were whirring across the pavement as the bike sped faster and faster down the road, and the sense of freedom and speed was amazing. She could feel how smooth the pavement was, each of the minuscule bumps forming a flawless surface.

And then came the one flaw on this part of the road, the one snag. A single rock that shouldn't have been there, wasn't there before. It was only several millimeters tall, and yet, at a speed such as this it was enough to throw the front wheel off just enough.

Back and forth, back and forth it began oscillating at a speed that was incredibly fast, too fast for Katie to attempt to do anything about it.

The handlebars jerked away from her and the bike turned right and fell left. Katie's helmet shattered instantly in a spray of foam as her head crashed against the pavement and her legs separated from the bike. Her body and the bike were soon flying away on two different tangents.

Her shoulder gripped the pavement just enough to cause her to begin to roll again and again, head over heels over head...

Suddenly Katie wasn't moving any more and she was still in the grass on the side of the road. She was in an enormous amount of pain that was threatening to consume her.

She was never quite sure how long she lay there before she drifted into unconsciousness.

Jeffrey rounded the top of the hill and shut off his engine, the quiet calming after the roar of his busted muffler. Something caught his eye – a bright green bike lying on the middle of the road. The handlebars were bent at an odd angle and the back wheels was extremely screwed up, each of the spokes were bent and the tire had been ripped off.

Then the second piece came to Jeffrey's attention: a helmet split in half and held together only by the straps.

He almost missed the third part of the puzzle, but there it was sticking out of the grass on the side of the road: a slender hand.

Jeffrey swore and pressed down hard on his brakes. He almost hit the steering wheel the vehicle was stopped so quickly, and the smell of burning rubber was plainly evident. He threw open his door and rushed to the side of the road and grabbed the slender hand with his own hand, small and smooth on thick and rough. Brushing the grass out of the way Jeffrey was able to uncover the hand's owner, a girl who was likely several years younger than him.

Her injuries were bad, but they would have seemed a miracle if Jeffrey had known of the seventy three miles and hour that she was going when she crashed. Her right shoulder was torn up badly, the skin was flayed and burned by the pavement, and in some cases just missing. The flesh beneath was red and raw and blood flowed freely down the girl's previously impeccable skin where it got soaked up by her torn and faded t-shirt.

The girl's hair was a mess, it was all over the place and was tangled in the grass around it and covered her face which let Jeffrey get only a diaphanous outline of her features. He moved to brush it out of the way, and when he pulled his hand away it was covered in crimson evil.

Her legs were covered in a myriad of fresh bruises and were cut in several places. These were not deep cuts, however. The girl's shorts were slightly torn and blood seeped from a hidden wound into the white material.

The worst injury by far, however, seemed to be the girl's left arm which was bent unnaturally at several places. Not only that but the skin was broken in several places, and in one place the whiteness of bone glared out at Jeffrey.

“Come on, please be alive,” he whispered as he put his head up to her chest and listened for a heartbeat or breathing or something, anything that would indicate that she was still there. She looked too young and too innocent to be taken away yet.

There it was, the faint 'thu-thump' of her heart and the slight wheezing of her lungs.

Jeffrey put one hand under the girls neck, put her right arm over her stomach so as not to strain the shoulder and to keep and the bones safe, and placed his other hand underneath her knees and lifted her up out of the grass and carried her over to his pickup truck. He placed her along the seat and decided not to deal with placement for the moment and quickly rushed to pick up the girl's bike and what was left of her helmet.

Just before he closed his door a glint caught his eye. It had come from an aged leather wallet that had been studded with numerous little plastic flowers. Inside was enough money to buy an icecream at the stall only a mile away and a picture of a happy family with the girl grinning in the middle of the laughing people. It was a far stretch from how she looked now, bloody and ragged.

Jeffrey pocketed the wallet and jumped in his side of the truck. He finally figured out what to do with the girl and fastened both the middle and passenger seatbelt and kept her head in his lap. Her hair formed a brown sheet that covered his jeans.

After much swearing Jeffrey got his truck running again and he stepped on the gas and sped the rest of the way down the hill. He surpassed seventy three miles an hour in the blink of an eye and was soon doing eighty five as he raced along the abandoned country road. At one point he thought to look to see if he was getting any signal on his cell phone, but he had no luck so he placed it back in its clip on the dash board where he could get a good look at it.

After several minutes a stop sign loomed up and passed by in a blur as well as something white.

Oh shit.

The lights followed barely seconds later and soon there was another person on the empty back roads chasing down Jeffrey and his badly wounded cargo.

Katie screamed mentally before she managed to calm herself down. It hurt, but it wasn't too bad. She didn't know where she was, though. There was the obnoxious roar of a truck with a broken muffler straining its engine, and in the background there was the noise of a siren. She was vaguely away of her head at least being comfortable, but what it was resting on she couldn't tell. She was also aware of the fact that she was moving very fast.

After a moment she decided that it would help to open her eyes, so she did. It wasn't all that helpful. The first thing that her eyes focused on was the arm above her that was managing the steering wheel. After a moment Katie found the other arm which was resting on her chest as if keeping her there and safe.

Her head hurt enormously and felt like it was about to implode, and the rest of her body was screaming at her, but Katie managed to focus and discern the body of her rescuer or kidnapper, of which she wasn't sure. It was a guy, yes, several years older than her at least. His chest, of which she could see the most of, was thin and scrawny and covered in a green Vegas t-shirt that was actually rather good on the guy. The arms it revealed, though, followed the suit of the chest. The chin that was above her as well was covered in about a days worth of stubble, and Katie laughed a little bit inside (Though she didn't know why) when she realized that she could see up this guy's nose.

Then she saw the radio, and with her last ounce of strength she reached over and turned it on. The driver jumped as a guitar sounded as well as a man singing a country song.

Before she blacked out from the pain Katie watched as the man looked at the radio and then down at her.

For a guy with glasses and such messy hair he wasn't that bad looking.

Jeffrey looked over at the radio and then down at the again unconscious girl. He would have turned the radio off but he liked the music and didn't have the hands to anyways. The chase had been going on for nearly twenty minutes now, and already two more cars had joined in to create a flashing red and blue rainbow in his mirror.

A green sign flashed by and Jeffrey barely caught what it said. “Johnston – thirteen miles,” he muttered. So close, so close. Only around ten more minutes and they'd be there within spitting distance of the only hospital for miles.

Jeffrey watched as a police helicopter loomed up in the sky and turned to follow him. He had quite a crowd going now.

He massaged the girl's forehead absentmindedly with his free hand as he drove with his other hand, and occasionally he would straighten out her hair.

He had been going to his friend's house in Johnston to kick back and watch a few movies and maybe go out to the bar later in the night. But no, God had willed that a life depend on him and he had to take the back roads rather than the highway. And that he'd get caught doing it. On television. This became apparent when a news chopper pulled in on the other side of the police helicopter.

Somewhere, he was sure, his mother was yelling for his father to come here and see – their little Jeffrey was in a police chase on television!

Eight miles now, almost there. Already houses in the suburbs were popping up and Jeffrey found himself having to slow down so that he could swerve in between the other vehicles on the road.

Five miles and just as many law enforcement vehicles behind him now. Up ahead he could see two men standing on either side of the road, and since there were no sidewalks he erred on the side of caution and slowed down enough to turn left and then, after around fifty feet, right back onto a road paralleling the one that he had just been on.

He risked a look down and could see that the girl was now very pale and her face was drawn. A second glance revealed a puddle of blood busy coagulating on the floor of the old pickup truck.

So close, so close...

Now he was on the main avenue of the town and the cars were melting away to either side in order to avoid the lone truck and its entourage of city police and state troopers. Past the library – a red and white brick blur. Past the daycare – the children playing outside pointing and yelling excitedly at the chase and the helicopters above. Past the McCleary's house – old man McCleary sighing and wondering what the hell sort of trouble Jeffrey was in now.

Less than a mile to go now and the traffic was thicker than ever, but still it yielded. Past town hall and the mayor looking out dumbfounded, past the police station and the two more cars that put Jeffrey's posse at nine now, and past a tourist with a video camera a video worthy of the internet.

And there it was – finally, the God-sent place, the final destination, the goal: the hospital, bright and white and glorious in the afternoon sun and surrounded by a high stone wall meant mainly for aesthetic purposes.

There was the way in! ...And there was a dump truck about to block the way.

Jeffrey took a chance and gunned the engine and just barely beat the hulking metal monster to the intersection. He could feel it as his rear lights crunched.

Jeffrey coasted in now to a halt in front of the emergency room doors where he stopped and leaped out of his door. By now the law was speeding across the parking lot towards him. He reached in and undid both of the buckles and pulled the girl out and carried her the same way as before towards the doors and kicked them open for his lack of hands.

Inside the waiting room was empty except for a bored looking nurse.

“She was in a bike crash,” Jeffrey spluttered, the words struggling to come out. “She needs help now!”

The nurse looked like he had been shot for a moment before he jumped up and called for a doctor even as he went and searched for a gurney.

The gurney was rushed out, and just as Jeffrey's hands slipped out from under the girl's body nearly twenty law enforcement officers burst through the doors with weapons raised.

There was much yelling, and the next thing he knew he was on the ground watching the nurse wheel the girl away as he was handcuffed.

The sun was warm and the grass was calm and felt cool on Jeffrey's skin. Behind him was the hospital and a good part of the hospital grounds while before him was the rest of the grounds and the city.

A warm breeze blew across the open lawns and caused the grass to wave back and forth as it was buffeted by the air, and Jeffrey let it blow across his body as he stretched out and closed his eyes.

A single night, that's all the time Jeffrey had to give up to jail for his reckless driving. He had been fed well and had engaged in several long conversations with the chief of police and had listened as the chief had berated him for not stopping to explain the situation to the first trooper, but that was all.

Three days now Jeffrey had waited, and finally the hospital had said that they would let the girl at least leave her room. Katie, they said her name was. Only sixteen and she had almost died. Would have, they said, if she hadn't been found so soon. They didn't know whether or not her arm would ever be the same, it was too early to tell, but other than that she was apparently fine.

Her parents had come by and thanked him, the father had shaken his hand and the mother had given him a hug, and they had offered to have him over for dinner. He had, of course, refused.

And now here he was, waiting on the grass of the hospital grounds for a girl whose life he had saved but had never met or talked to. What would he say? What would she say? Would it be awkward?

And why did he care so much? She was too young for him, he was turning twenty next month and was being shipped away to Iraq in half a year, and she was sixteen and still in high school. And how could he fall in love with someone he had never talked to? It just wasn't right, he couldn't be in love with her, he couldn't...

Jeffrey had been so lost in thought, however, that he hadn't heard the padding of bare feet and the swish of a gown on grass coming up behind him, and when he suddenly realized that there was a girl – no, the girl – standing over him he simply didn't know what to do.

He looked up at her, and she down at him, a reverse from before. She was wearing a pretty white gown with white sequins and frills along the bottom that swayed with the grass in the breeze. He was wearing the same clothes from three days before and had only gotten a chance to shower that morning at his friend's house and now felt strangely inadequate.

The girl was the first to speak, the one to break the silence.

“I... I just wanted to say thanks. They tell me that you probably saved my life, so I guess it goes without saying... But still, thank you.”

Her voice wasn't as Jeffrey had thought that it might be, soft and sweet, with a timbre so clear and light. Rather, it was deeper but still unwavering – she would probably make a wonderful alto – and it seemed to fit her strangely well.

Jeffrey just nodded; he couldn't think of anything to say to this beautiful young girl who was indebted to him because he had been at the right place at the right time and his mind was screaming for it.

“Are you alright?” she asked as she bent over him. Her hair was in a bushy ponytail that hung down like a dead weight. “You look really tired...”

And finally Jeffrey said something. “Yea, I haven't been getting much sleep these past few days... Been worried.”

“About me?” The girl finally smiled and it was every bit as beautiful as Jeffrey had thought that it would be. “That's so sweet... I could have saved you the trouble and snuck out sooner, but they were always watching me like hawks.” She offered Jeffrey her left hand as her right hand was in both a cast and a sling, and Jeffrey took it and let her pull him off the grass and into a sitting position.

“Yea, well, I'm a chronic worrier so there wasn't much helping that,” Jeffrey said, pulling her down to sit next to him as he did so. “But you look fine for the most part, so I might be able to stop now. Maybe.”

“Well, I'm feeling a lot better now... A little morphine here and a little morphine there and it hurts a lot less... Oh! God, I'm so rude, I haven't introduced myself!” She drew herself up and in a very fine and pompous sounding voice said, “I am Katherine Jean Coiteux. Buuut I guess you can call me Katie like everybody, else if you want.”

Jeffrey smiled and said, “How fancy! I suppose that you also ride horses and eat caviar?”

“No... I don't like horses too much and caviar isn't exactly the most appetizing food in the world. Now, are you gonna introduce yourself to me like a gentleman or not?”

“Ah... I'm just Jeffrey. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Katie wasn't one to be deterred, however. “No middle or last name after I gave you my entire name? Not very gentlemanly, which I know you're capable of being since you kinda saved my life and all.”

“I wasn't aware you had to be a gentleman to save someone's life?”

“Well, you've got to have some gentlemanness in you to save somebody's life. Now, quit changing the subject.” Katie gave Jeffrey a stern look for good measure.

“Ah... I can't deny a girl such a simple request, I guess...” Jeffrey mock sighed, finally giving in. “Well, my full name is Jeffrey Theodore Caron.”

Katie got on her knees in front of Jeffrey and pressed her left hand in his right and looked in his eyes – God, hers were such a wonderful shade of brown – and said, “Well, Jeffrey Theodore Caron... I, the wonderful and omnipotent Katherine Jean Coiteux have to go because my mother is waiting to take me home, but I thank you again for saving me and wonder if you wouldn't like to go out to lunch sometime?”

Jeffrey was taken aback by this question, but he never got a chance because Katie made a hushing noise and put her finger up to his lips. “You don't have to answer now – I can see the words caught in your throat trying to get out. When you figure out just what it is you want to say call me, alright? Good.” Katie stood up and looked down at the sitting Jeffrey and smiled again, dazzling him. “Now, stop worrying and go have some fun for the rest of the day and call me tomorrow! Bye!”

Jeffrey watched as she flounced off across the grassy lawn and managed to shout to her: “Wait! I don't have your number!”

Katie stopped and looked back at Jeffrey and raised an eyebrow. “Since you were able to find me in all that grass I'd think that you'd be observant enough to see my number!”

Jeffrey's mouth opened and closed several times over as he tried to figure out what she meant. Then something white besides Katie, as she'd disappeared already, caught his eye. He looked down and saw that when she had taken his hand in hers she'd slipped a piece of paper in there.

It was small, about one by two inches, and looked like it had been torn out of a notebook. Written on it in red pen in small and neat cursive was her telephone number, and next to it was a tiny heart with her name underneath it.

After a minute he noticed that on the back was a note, only a few words but enough to make Jeffrey wonder how she'd gotten them to fit.

'Jeffrey – I'm sure by now you're tired of my thanking you, but it doesn't hurt, so thank you thank you and thank you again. Love: Katie'

(Author's note: Aw... What a sweet ending. I don't normally do things like that, so it was hard for me to let my characters be... Happy. What does that say about me? Anyways, this was meant to just be a short story, a one-shot, but I see potential for it to continue, so if you want I'll keep it going as much as I have the capacity to write for. But, yea, it's up to you guys - yay or nay?

Regards,

Thomas Desrochers)