***Taylor's POV***
I'm so close to driving back to him. I should have offered him a lift. I should have, it's fucking snowing. I call Matty my phones connected to the car.
"Babe you okay?" He says answering after one ring.
"Matty do you think I should have offered Ross a ride because of the snow?" I ask him.
"Are you driving?" He asks me seriously.
"Yes but slow and the snow, the visibility is poor and I keep thinking what if somebody doesn't see him on his bike and drives through him. I'm going to circle around and see if I can find him" I say almost crying.
"Ok calm down and pull over right now" he tells me and he's serious.
I do as he says. I apply the handbrake and sit for a minute.
"Okay what I want you to do is wait I'm going to call his phone, he should be home by now. He's not far from town and the way he drives..." he says.
"Okay" I say shakily.
"Okay I'll call you back lock the car don't move. Love you" he says and hangs up.
I wait my tummy doing flips. Why didn't I just think? The anxiety is consuming me. I'm panicking.
My phone rings and I answer it by clicking the steering wheel.
"Yeah he's probably driving slow and won't answer. I think he would have driven down the quiet road back to his. I can come and meet you and we can go and check" he suggests.
I cry. "No, it will take too long. I'm all good Matty I will just drive around very slowly and I will see him and then offer him a lift" I tell him.
He starts talking and I interrupt him "I will see you soon. I love you" I hang up. Had to be done he will protest me doing this. I don't have time.
I slowly drive off. My phone beeps and I turn the radio down. My lights highlight the road I drive towards where I think he would be travelling.
I keep expecting to see his bike. I don't. The roads are dead quiet. They're not even residential. Just trees either side and dark forests. If I wasn't so scared and full of nerves I would appreciate the beauty of the snow landing on the trees. I would be thinking about Christmas. And what to get everybody for presents. I think I'm cracking up. Keep it together. Concentrate, I'm travelling at 10mph. Lights on and windscreen wipers going on high.
It's like being in one of those nightmares, where you are lost. I can only see white, the snow has buried the road. Why is it snowing so fucking much in November.
My phone beeps and I answer it instead of being childish.
"Babe?" He says.
"Okay where are you just in case something
happens to you ? I need to know" Matty says.
"I'm on.." I look at the sat nav quickly as I have no idea.
"I'm on B232 it says on the sat nav" I tell him.
"I will be fine okay, I will not risk your car" I chuckle.
"Fuck the car Taylor. I care about you and your safety and Ross' just keep the call connected so I know you're okay" he says sounding pissed.
"I'm sorry I hung up. I just needed to go look my gut was telling me to just go and I thought you would stop me. And..." I say.
"It's okay I'm proud of you, you always do the right thing even when I'm inclined to tell you not too" he says.
"I just wanted to keep you safe." He says.
"I can't see anything Matty" I tell him I'm beyond worried.
"I'm going to text Rach and ask her to ring his phone to see if he's arrived home or whatever" he says to me.
He's dialling her number.
"Fuck, don't worry about it. I can see something ahead" I tell him.
"It's his bike for sure. Shit shit shit." I say.
"Slow your car down now and pull over and put your hazards on" he tells me and I'm glad he's here in my ear talking me through it.
"He's off the bike this is my fault." I say I'm in shock.
"It's not, now text me a screen shot of the sat nav. I will ring an ambulance now. Can you try to see what the extent of his injuries are?" He asks me.
I send off the image of the sat nav and then I get out and walk over to Ross.
"Do I take his helmet off?" I ask Matty
"No, if he can't breathe then undo the strap under his chin." Matty says.
I start to cry.
"Babe you can do this" he says. Then he starts talking to the ambulance service presumably on the house phone.
I approach Ross and open the visor on the helmet, his eyes are closed. He looks cold.
"Babe ask him if he can hear you" Matty says.
"Ross can you hear me" I say sobbing.
"He's not responding Matty, shit" I say crying.
"Okay now check his breathing, does his chest rise and fall." He says.
I look down at his chest lightly placing my hands on him and he is breathing. Thank the heavens.
"Yes breathing normally."
"Fantastic babe you're doing so good. Now if you can move him into recovery position. On his side yeah?" He tells me.
I move him very slowly into recovery position, flashback from previous first aid courses going through my brain.
"Ambulance is on its way. Babe, you were right and you handled that exceptionally. I'm proud of you." He tells me.
"Now though you're gonna need to talk to him. And keep an eye on his breathing and pulse. Im getting a cab to the hospital. I'll see you there. Go in the ambulance. Leave the car parked up. Oh and I love you" he says.
"I love you" I tell him and he reassures me some more before we hang up.
I look down at Ross, of course he's scratched up. He's breathing I tell myself over and over again.
"Ross. I'm sorry this is all my fault. If you can hear me at all please show me" I tell him feeling like an idiot. I place my hand on his heart. It reassures me feeling it beat against my hand.
I tell him that the ambulance is coming. And I keep talking. I tell him that I love him, so completely and I squeeze his hand lightly with my other hand.
The ambulance approaches I hear it first, before I see it. Then the rest is a blur.
I inform them that I'm going with him in the ambulance.
I go and park the car take my bag and then lock it all up.
"We're you involved in the accident miss?" A man asks.
"Oh no I came to find him. He was already unconscious." I say not looking at anybody but Ross on the stretcher.
"You need a checkup accident or not, very stressful thing to go through. Do you recall how long you were out in the cold" he says putting a medical blanket around me. He sits me down in the chair inside the ambulance next to Ross.
"No idea" I say and I grasp Ross' hand over from me on the bed.
The man looks down at the gesture.
I start to cry again, suddenly thinking of all of the implications of Ross' injuries.
The man who is an emergency nurse attempts to reassure me telling me that the injuries are actually not as bad as they may seem.
"Once we work our magic he will just need rest and a bit of physio" he says.
"Tell me to shut up if I'm being presumptuous" he adds.
"But it's your partner right? He's very lucky you found him" he says to me.
Then he goes over to double check on Ross and to grab me some tissues.
I don't even respond I just hold onto Ross' hand intent on not letting it go.