The CEO’s Unspoken Love (Eleanor and Derek) novel Chapter 197

Chapter 197

Eleanor POV

The harsh metallic crash still echoed in my ears as I drifted back to consciousness. Just moments ago, Derek had been looking at me with those intense eyes, asking if I’d start over with him. Now, shattered glass glittered around us like cruel diamonds. My vision blurred, then gradually focused on the windshield before me-a spider web of cracks illuminated by the distant street lights, each fracture line seeming to pulse with the remnants of our interrupted conversation.

Each breath sent shooting pain through my chest, like tiny needles piercing my lungs. I tasted iron in my mouth, warm and metallic, so different from the lingering sweetness of our kiss just minutes earlier. Something wet trickled down my left temple, tracing the same path Derek’s fingers had caressed moments before everything changed.

Blood. My blood.

The realization came with detached clarity, as if I were observing someone else’s body. My head throbbed with each heartbeat, and my left shoulder felt wrong-dislocated perhaps, or worse. The leather seat that had felt so intimate when Derek leaned across it now pressed cold and unyielding against my back.

I tried to move, to turn my head, muscles protesting with every millimeter. There was only one thought pulsing through my mind,

drowning out everything else.

Derek.

With excruciating effort, I managed to rotate my stiff neck, searching for him. The sight that greeted me sent ice through my veins. Derek was slumped against the steering wheel, his forehead bleeding, crimson liquid trailing down his handsome features-the same features that had been animated with hope when he’d asked his question. His eyes were closed, face covered in blood. He wasn’t moving. The man who had just been so full of life, whose presence had filled the car with warmth and possibility, now looked

broken and still.

I wanted to scream his name, but my voice failed me. My throat constricted, producing nothing but a faint whisper of air. The same throat that had laughed at his jokes, that had formed the syllables of our kiss. I tried to reach for him-to touch him, to shake him awake, to feel for a pulse-but my arm wouldn’t cooperate. It felt disconnected from my body, refusing to follow the desperate

commands my brain was sending.

Please, not like this. Not Derek. Not when we were finally finding our way back to each other.

Outside, sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder with each passing second, cutting through the night air. Rain had just stopped, leaving behind that distinct petrichor scent, now mingling with the acrid smell of gasoline and burnt rubber. The same rain washed streets that had looked so romantic through the window minutes ago now seemed menacing, wet asphalt reflecting the

emergency lights in distorted patterns.

Oh God, the crash is bad!” a voice called from somewhere outside.

Is anyone in there? Another voice, closer now.

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Chapter 197

I heard hurried footsteps splashing through puddles, then the screech of metal as someone tried to wrench open the crumpled door.

The sound was deafening, so different from the soft music that had been playing on Derek’s stereo-a song I couldn’t even

remember now.

“Call an ambulance! Quick! There are two people inside. They don’t look good!”

The blue and red lights began flashing, painting the interior of our mangled car in alternating colors, harsh and artificial compared

to the warm glow of the dashboard that had illuminated Derek’s hopeful expression. I felt warm liquid running down my cheeks—,

tears mixing with blood. I hadn’t even realized I was crying, not from the physical pain, but from the sight of Derek’s still form and

the terrible irony of our situation.

His question from moments ago echoed in my mind: ‘I want to know if you’d be willing to start over with me?” The words that had

made my heart soar now haunted me with their unfinished promise.

The regret that washed over me was more agonizing than any physical injury. If this was the end, I hadn’t even told him my answer.

I stared at his pale face, my thoughts drifting to all the moments I’d taken for granted-his rare genuine smiles, the way his eyes

crinkled at the corners when he was truly amused, how he’d absently run his fingers through his hair when deep in thought. The

scent of his cologne still hung in the air, mixing grotesquely with the metallic smell of blood.

The edges of my vision began to darken, black closing in from the periphery. I fought against the encroaching darkness, desperate to stay conscious, to know if Derek was alive. The voices around me became muffled, as if I were underwater. The flashing lights seemed farther away, like distant lighthouses in a storm.

‘Ma’am, can you hear me? Stay with us!”

I felt hands on me, checking for injuries, stabilizing my neck. Brief moments of clarity broke through the fog. Someone’s rubber- gloved fingers gently probing my head wound. The scratch of a wool blanket being placed over me.

Female victim, mid-twenties, head trauma, possible internal injuries…

“Male victim’s condition is critical. We need to get him to Boston General immediately…”

“His blood pressure is dropping! Move, now!”

Each word was like a knife to my heart. Derek’s condition was worse than mine. I wanted to ask about him, to make them save him

first, but still no sound would come. My lips, which had just been pressed against his in a moment of tenderness, now refused to

form words.

I felt myself being carefully extracted from the wreckage, every movement sending fresh waves of pain through my body. The cold

Boston night air briefly touched my face before the hard surface of a stretcher met my back. The stars above-real stars, not the

ones caused by my injury-seemed to mock the silver star pendant Derek had given me, which now pressed painfully against my

collarbone

Someone was asking me questions, trying to get my information.

Eleanor Linch, address in Newton residential area…” I heard someone say, having found my ID.

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Chapter 197

As they lifted me into the ambulance, I caught a glimpse of another stretcher-Derek, surrounded by medical personnel, an oxygen mask covering most of his face. His skin was paper-white, his expensive suit torn and bloodied. His hand, which had held mine so

gently just moments ago, now lay limp at his side.

Fear engulfed me. Would Derek die? Would I? This couldn’t be how it ended. There was too much left unsaid, too many promises

unfulfilled. His question still hung in the air between us, a fragile bridge now collapsed.

The ambulance doors closed, sirens wailing as we sped through the Boston streets. My consciousness began to slip away again, my thoughts drifting backward in time-to the silver star pendant Derek first gave me, our first kiss, the gentleness in his touch when

he cared for me during my illness.

In my mind, I finally answered his unfinished question: “Yes, I would start over with you…”

The darkness was enveloping me now, like a blanket pulling me under. The pain receded temporarily, growing distant, muchMike

Derek himself seemed to be growing distant.

My last coherent thought before consciousness fully abandoned me: No, not like this. We were just beginning… The taste of his lips

still lingered on mine, a cruel reminder of what might have been.

Through the haze, I heard the paramedics working around me, monitoring my vital signs, their voices professional and urgent.

“Her condition is relatively stable, but she needs immediate CT scan for the head injury.”

“The other victim is critical, already en route to the emergency room.”

The ambulance raced through the nighttime Boston streets toward the hospital. City lights flickered through the windows, each flash reminiscent of the moment before impact, when everything had changed in an instant-from love to terror, from possibility to uncertainty. I sank deeper into unconsciousness, Derek’s question and my unspoken answer the last thoughts in my fading mind.

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The CEO’s Unspoken Love