Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption

In Jessica's car, the world seemed to tilt in slow motion as the car's front wheels lost grip on the rocky edge.

For a breathless instant, it hovered, balanced between salvation and doom as it snagged on brittle tree branches. Then, with a splintering crack, the branches gave way, and gravity took charge.

The violent crash of metal tearing through trees echoed down the cliffside, sending a flock of startled birds screaming into the sky.

Jessica's heart dropped into her stomach, her breath hitched. Her heart thumped rapidly as the tree branches scratched the car's body.

This wasn't what she thought. Her mind raced on what to do but with such a situation she found herself at a loss.

The driver groaned from the impact as he lifted his hand to shield her head.

She opened her mouth to speak but the impact of the car as its hood slammed into the rock had her bite her tongue followed by violent cracks that shook the car like a toy being thrown around.

Continuing its descent, the branches tore at the windows, snapping and scraping, their jagged ends striking the metal as if trying to rip it apart.

Shards of glass exploded around them, glittering in the flashes of sunlight that broke through the tumbling blur. With each impact the driver groaned painfully.

Inside the car, their bodies were a tangled mess, the driver's weight bore down on her, steady and unyielding, even as the car flipped and jolted with bone-rattling force.

His breathing came in gasps, blood seeping from his back, with the car nosediving his back had slammed against the front seat, pain coursing through every vein.

Jessica squeezed her eyes shut, every sound magnified in her ears…the grinding metal, the cracking wood, the thunder of impact after impact.

The car's descent slowed to a stop and she opened her eyes. She could feel her body damp with warm liquid, no doubt it must be her driver.

She opened her mouth to speak to him but she felt the taste of blood in her mouth. Her lungs burned. The smell of dust, gasoline, and crushed leaves filled the air.

Her mind screamed that this was the end, but the warmth of the driver's arm over her head made her cling to one thin, impossible hope.

Just when she thought she could move away from him, the tree holding the car cracked from its weight and the car resumed its descent.

This time faster than its first descent, and finally with a brutal crash, the car slammed against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff before falling to the side.

An impact that changed their position as the driver became a body cushion for her.

Metal squeaked loudly as it twisted, the remaining door windows shattered from the impact. And everything went still.

Jessica felt the groan from the driver, his arm twitching lightly against her body.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, her breath shallow and ragged as she tried to move her limbs.

A deep gash on her forehead with blood flowing endlessly, clearly from the last impact, her leg numb.

Jessica tried to speak, but only a weak whimper slipped past her lips, quickly answered by the groan of the driver, his hand twitching to move yet he couldn't lift it up.

Her body felt heavy, too heavy, but then a sharp ache ripped through her lower belly.

Her eyes widened. The pain spread quickly, twisting and tightening until it stole her breath. She clutched her stomach with trembling hands.

"No… not now…Baby, you have to be good. We…have to…make it out of… this," she whispered hoarsely, panic swelling in her chest.

But then the pains continued to spread through every part of her body. She could hear her heartbeat pounding louder than the groans of the car's broken frame.

Sweat broke out on her forehead as another wave of pain crashed through her abdomen, stronger this time, forcing a cry from her lips.

The world around her blurred. Her vision drifted between flickers of light and shadows.

She tried to move, to sit up, but then the pains were terrifying.

She felt wetness on her thighs, the warmth spreading so fast that it sent her spiraling deeper into dread as she shivered at the thought of what was happening.

For the first time, she felt fear, fear for herself, fear for the tiny life inside her. "I can't give up like this. I can't lose my child." She murmured.

Slowly she pulled herself up, with the car lying on its side and the windows shattered she slowly crawled from the car into the open space leaving a trail of blood from the car.

From the distance came the frantic barking of orders and the shouts of her name as they echoed through the cliff.

She hoped she could respond, hoped she could tell them she was down here, hoped she could stand up and seek a path, but then she was tired.

Under her blood pooled together. "Can you hear me," she murmured, hoping to talk to the driver but her voice was hoarse, her lips pale.

"M..ar..tins," she called again but the driver only groaned.

"Y..ou..mus..t not ..g..ive …up." She muttered, her voice a whisper barely audible.

She could still see the man's hand twitch and fingers clench weakly. It seemed he wanted to say something but at the moment he couldn't. His body refused to move, all strength lost.

Her eyelids fluttered, heavy as lead. Consciousness slipped, yet was constantly awakened by the sharp tearing pain in her waist and stomach.

No doubt she was going into premature labor resulting from the impact. "Please…" she whispered into the silence, not sure if she begged for help, mercy, or a miracle.

When she couldn't bear it any more, she slipped into unconsciousness as the darkness pulled her under, leaving behind the echo of her whisper.

Her labor began in earnest.