Later Would Be Too Late

Silence lingered in the car as Matt drove the two girls towards their home. From wanting to escape the restaurant to being roped into dropping them home, he felt like he had been played by a master. He looked at the innocent little girl who had just met him a few hours ago and already had him dancing to her tunes and thought of his second brother. Little Ella was just like Neil Long- a natural manipulator. She was going up to grow up and become a great success!

Meanwhile, the woman next to him proved to be much more distracting than he had expected. From the way Ella talked, it was clear that Miss Xue was a single parent and had a somewhat tumultuous past. But more than that it was the scent of the woman in the closed confines of the car which was distracting him. The last two years of abstinence seemed to be getting to him.

As the light turned red, he slowed to a stop and tried to think of something to distract himself from this. As his mind started to wander, the light turned green and he started to drive. But just then noticed something from the corner of his eye which made him almost curse out as he swerved towards the right.

The sound of the curses was soon covered by the sound of metal crushing, tires screeching and glass cracking. Matt had barely slammed on the brakes when another car hit them from behind, jolting them severely. Ella's scream echoing in his ear, Matt turned around in horror to check on the girl before taking off his seatbelt with a snap.

Ella was screaming in horror as tears escaped her eyes but otherwise seemed fine. He then turned to Qian Qian and was alarmed to see her. The airbags had not deployed due to the speed being slow but the car that had run the signal had hit there and the door metal had crushed inwards while the glass had shattered on her arms. Her face had turned pale and she seemed to have lost consciousness...Assessing the situation in less than a minute, he knew that she needed to be taken to the hospital urgently.

Just then the sirens of the police and ambulance wailed around them.. Looking ahead, Matt realized that they had been luckier...The perpetrator's car had actually overturned.. while the car behind had it's front almost crushed. The bas**** must have been drunk driving. Jumping out of the car, Matt opened the backdoor and first grabbed the crying Ella out of the car, checking for any injuries!

With fear in every moment, Ella wound her thin arms around Matt as she screamed," I want my mommy! Where is my mommy? Mommy! Mommy!"

The girl's cries made Matt feel as powerless as when he had been told about Jianan. Trying to compose his own feelings, he hugged back little Ella before walking a little further away and placing her on the ground. When Ella clung to him, not letting him go, Matt caught hold of her face as he tried to make her understand," Ella, your mother is in the car and her door is stuck! I need to help her come out from the other side. You are my brave girl aren't you? I want you to stand here, while I go get your mommy, alright? You will not move and not turn around."

Matt had covered Ella's eyes as he carried her out and made her face the opposite side so that she would not face the pile up. This was traumatic enough for the little girl without her having more visuals for nightmares. Just then a woman ran out from the cat that had rear ended them and collapsed on the ground!

Once again, Matt assessed that she had not been damaged by much and raced back to his car. The police officer rushed forward as he saw him going back into his car and tried to stop him," Sir, you cannot go back! You are injured and your head is bleeding! Please get medical assistance!"

Matt stopped at the policeman's urging but refused medical assistance, "Look! Do you see that child there? Her mother is inside and unconscious. She needs more medical assistance! I need to get her out."

"And we will get her out Sir. Look the two car pileup there is more dangerous and there is even some fuel leaking! We need to rescue those people and then we will rescue your wife later! Please.."

Before the officer could explain more, he was called away but his words seemed to cause Matt to lose his sanity for a while as the words, "Save your wife later..." echoed in his ears. He needed to save her now...Later would be too late...