Princess Read Online Free PDF

with her car. Hit him hard, with almost no warning. Now he wasn’t moving, and she was probably a murderer. Meanwhile, he was bleeding heavily.
    Clamping down on her hysteria, Jess moved so she could check his face. She tried opening one of his eyes carefully with her finger, but he didn’t react. When her hands slipped on something that felt like blood, she gave a start and sprawled back on the ground in the mud. Wincing, she pulled off one of the man’s gloves and searched desperately for a pulse.
    Yes. No.
    Maybe?
    But she was no doctor, and she couldn’t tell if he had a pulse, especially with her hands shaking like Jell-O. Meanwhile, her victim still wasn’t moving, wasn’t making any noise, and neither seemed to be a good sign.
    Cold.
    Suddenly Jess remembered reading about heat loss in cases of shock and trauma. Dragging her coat out of the Jeep, she draped the heavy wool over his motionless body. When her fingers brushed his neck, she felt the warm, sticky thing again and was certain it was blood.
    She had to call the police or 911. She needed help
now.
    A shrill ringing broke through her panic. Not her cell phone, Jess realized, but his. The sound was coming from somewhere inside his leather jacket.
    After a few fumbled tries, she managed to find a small silver flip phone. “Yes,” she answered, gasping. “Who is this?”
    She heard a little click, followed by silence.
    “If you’re there, answer me. I need help.” Her voice broke. “Hello?” Shivering, she leaned over the man on the ground and continued to talk. “He’s not moving. Dear God, he’s not saying anything. I’m afraid that I killed him.”
    “Killed who?” The voice on the phone was male, cold and clipped.
    “The man. The one you were calling. I found this phone in his jacket after he—he fell.” Jess swallowed hard, trying to stay lucid. “He was on the motorcycle, but he couldn’t see me at the curve. Then the farm truck swerved and he turned at the same time and I—I hit him.”
    “Take it easy, ma’am. Is he breathing?”
    “I don’t
know.
Just—just hurry. He needs help now.”
    “I’ll send someone.” The voice became brisk and precise. “Tell me exactly where you are and what happened.”
    “I
told
you, I came around the corner in the fog. I’d turned off the road to avoid that stupid van, but he couldn’t see me, and then I—” Jess took a deep breath. “Then I hit him. Now he’s here on the ground, not moving. I’ve covered him with my coat, but there’s something on my hands and I think it’s his blood,” she said hoarsely.
    “Did you check his pulse?”
    Jess fought through another wave of panic. “I tried but my fingers are numb, so I can’t tell anything. You’ve got to call 911 right away before he—”
    “They’re on their way. Just stay on the line and keep talking to me.”
    Jess looked down, smoothing her coat over the motionless body. “How can you send someone if you don’t know where I am?”
    “You’re going to give me directions right now,” the male voice said calmly. “Keep him warm and be sure you don’t move him, no matter what.”
    “Of course I won’t move him. Do you think I’m a
complete
idiot? I know about trauma following an accident. There could be internal bleeding, spinal damage—”
    Or death.
All her fault.
    Jess closed her eyes, shuddering. “Just send someone, okay? We’re about three miles east of Port Angeles on Route 101.”
    Keys clicked at the other end of the line, and Jess realized he was typing at a computer. “Three miles east of Port Angeles. You’re on the 101,” he repeated. “North or south side?”
    “South. There was a four-way stop just beyond the big hotel.” She stared down at the man on the grass. “Hurry, please,” she whispered. “It’s so cold out here and he’s still not moving.” Her fingers tightened, shaking so hard the phone nearly fell. “Why isn’t he
moving
?”
    “Everything will be fine,” the calm voice