I closed my eyes and re-opened them. There were two pairs of eyes, set in two faces which were quite clear. A man and a woman, middle-aged or older. Strangers. The man's hair was steel grey and very wet against his skull. The woman looked like a bird. She bent toward me and I had the momentary impression that she was going to peck at me with her long, sharply-pointed nose.
"Can you hear us?" she asked in a thin, piping voice. "Do you know what we're saying?"
"Yes."
I thought I spoke aloud but she continued to watch me expectantly. Behind her the sky was black and the fact surprised me. I had somehow expected hot sunlight and a hard blue sky.
"Henry pulled you out of the car," the woman said. "We saw it happen."
I heard a breaker topple over and the swish-swish of two cars passing on the highway. Then I remembered.
"The voice!" I cried. "Turn the wheel!"
The man crouched over me threateningly. "What's that you said?"
I tried to twist away. Pain sliced through my head in a clean stroke that seemed to take the top of my skull off.
"Please!" I groaned. "The voice—"