After Salem drops Zona off at her house, he goes back to his and does some homework before the whole truck-jump-ordeal. He doesn't do all that much, mostly because he's a bit distracted from the excitement and nerves of tonight.

At around eleven PM, he drives down to the grocery store. It's quite late and dark, but Cam wanted to wait for the store to close. Upon arrival, Salem finds that everything has already been set up. The ramps are facing each other, and they appear quite sturdy.

The old car, which looks partially crushed, is in between the ramps, and there is a little platform built beside it for Salem to sit on while he records.

Salem parks his Camaro a good distance away, not wanting to risk it getting caught in the carnage if something goes wrong. When he gets out of his car, he spots Milo and Cam speaking beside the truck. He makes his way over to them, already feeling a bit tired. Once he reaches them, Cam doesn't even greet him, he just starts giving him the run down of everything that's about to take place.

"Okay, so you're going to be on the platform and you will film it when it's approaching, then duck when it's over you and catch that too. Milo, you're going to be filming from over there," Cam points over to an area that's about twenty feet from the whole set up, but has a pretty good view of it.

Salem shrugs.

Cam gives Salem his phone, and Salem walks over to the platform. He climbs up on top of said platform, situating himself on his knees so he can see over the car. He rests his arms on top of it, despite the fact it's not very stable, camera in hand. They aren't turning on the headlights, so that it doesn't blind the camera. Therefore, Cam has to rely entirely on the street lamps to see everything.

Salem's attention is drawn when Cam starts up the truck. He sees the guy stick his hand out the window, holding up three fingers. Then two, then one...

Next thing Salem knows, the truck is coming at him full speed. He's lucky he's done stuff like this before, or seeing a huge truck driving towards him at 80 miles an hour would probably send him into cardiac arrest.

He starts rolling the camera, the truck getting closer and closer. Salem actually does find himself feeling a bit nervous, especially when it crosses his mind that the ramps could break.

Yeah. If the ramp in front of him breaks, Salem's done for. That would be a pretty cool way to die, though.

Seconds later, the truck finally reaches the ramp. Thankfully, it holds up. Salem knew he shouldn't have doubted Milo, he has the best materials and experience for this kind of thing.

Salem ducks just in time, almost laying down while he points the camera upwards. He's able to get a pretty decent shot, and the lighting actually makes it look really cool. It's a great moment, until the truck lands on the second ramp. It was clearly not built to withstand the weight of several tons landing on it with force.

So, it breaks. Salem's eyes widen, because the truck isn't completely over him yet. He rolls to the side, but there isn't much space since the car blocks him. The back wheel of the truck catches the edge of the platform, where Salem had previously been. Thankfully it doesn't launch Salem far, since it really only caught the very edge. Still, he falls just enough so he lands in the middle of all the jagged, wooden ruin of what used to be a ramp.

He films that, too, and he knows for a fact it looked awesome. He was able to hold onto the camera the whole time, and mostly center it on the truck.

It falls out of his hand when he lands, though. Again, in the middle of all the broken wood and bent nails. He lands almost entirely on his left side, but the only place he really feels pain is his arm.

He sits up after a minute, and he recognizes several people hastily making their way towards him. He glances around, the lights seeming a bit brighter than they were earlier. His arm hurts a lot, and he curses the fact that he isn't wearing long sleeves. Then again, sleeves wouldn't do much to protect him.

Unsurprisingly, there's a decent sized gash in his arm. Blood is leaking out from it, as well as several other places on his body. There aren't any super bad injuries, though, so that's a win.

Salem gradually gets to a standing position, helped quite a bit by Milo. The amount of blood coming out of his arm right now is really inconvenient, and it's getting all over his clothes. He doesn't care all that much, though. He's actually very good at managing his priorities, which is why the first thing out of his mouth is;

"I wanna watch it."

He hears some murmurs of agreement, and he notices Milo in the process of wrapping his arm up in a towel. The towel, which is getting bloodier by the minute. Salem lets him, though, and suddenly Cam is in front of him.

"Holy shit, this looks so sick." The guy remarks, handing the phone to Salem.

He presses play, a few people around him watching as well. Salem must admit, it does look really cool. This is all that matters to him, which is why despite his injury, he's satisfied. There is the other video filmed from a more outside perspective, and Salem watches that too.

It has nothing on his, though. The end is honestly the best part, him being flung in the air but still keeping the truck in the shot. He's honestly an expert at being a camera man, maybe he should do this more often.

Cam immediately gets to work on the editing and posting aspect of it. His page really has quite a following, he actually makes money off of certain videos if they get popular enough. Salem thinks this one has potential. He spends more time after that, watching the videos over and appreciating all the details of his amazing camera work.

Suddenly, the parking lot is lit by blue lights. Salem glances up and finds a cop car pulling into the lot, and it parks not too far away from the ramps. Several of the kids around run, but obviously Salem isn't in much condition to be going anywhere fast.

Cam and Milo stay with him, thankfully. He's leaning quite a bit on Milo currently, so it really would've sucked if they left him.

The policeman gets out of the car only a minute later, and Cam whispers; "go talk to him."

Salem glances over and raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Your dad's his chief. Come on."

"Not yet," Salem argues, because there are still a couple weeks before his father is officially the chief. Jack is probably his boss anyway, though, and Cam is nudging him forward, so he reluctantly limps over to the guy. It takes him a moment, but he realizes that he recognizes him.

It's the blond cop that Salem met right before his father broke the news to him. Officer Ellis, and he's frowning. Possibly at the condition Salem is in.

"I'm here on a noise complaint." The man notifies him.

Salem nods, unsure what to even say to that. They were pretty loud, though. "Understandable."

Ellis raises an eyebrow, then glances at Salem's injuries. He doesn't seem as impressed as he did when he first met Salem, and Salem wonders if the guy even remembers who he is. His question is answered when the officer continues;

"Do you want me to call EMS or your father?"

Salem really doesn't want his dad seeing him like this, because he knows they will end up having a whole conversation about irresponsibility and how Cam's a bad influence and blah blah blah. Then again, he doesn't want to deal with any sort of medical expenses.

Salem loses his balance a bit, and the guy grabs his good arm to keep him upright. When Salem checks behind himself, he sees Cam and Milo sneaking away. Salem turns back to face the cop, and finds him in the process of rolling his eyes. He says something into his radio, then continues staring at Salem in expectation.

He seems different than the last time Salem saw him. More tired, less polite and patient.

Before Salem can really decide which one to choose, the world starts to get a bit blurry. He wobbles some more, and he realizes that the blood loss is getting to him. After only a few seconds, the world is getting darker. He hears Officer Ellis say something else to him, concern in his voice, but it sounds far away. Salem can't make out a single word, and he finds himself leaning towards the guy as his legs begin to fail in supporting him.

Seconds later, he passes out.

-

Salem wakes up to the sound of his buzzing phone.

He jerks awake, and finds himself slumped against the car door, head pressed against the window. He's in the back of a police car, he notices immediately. He can tell because of the metal frame separating him from the front—from Officer Ellis.

Salem's head hurts, and he rubs at it. His vision is still a bit spotty, but he remembers he's getting a phone call. He pulls it out of his pocket, and checks the caller ID. Then, he drops it in shock.

Why the fuck is he calling? After how horrible their last conversation went?

Salem picks the phone up off the floor, before pressing the green button and putting it on speakerphone. He doesn't have the energy to hold the phone to his ear. Salem also doesn't have time to give a verbal answer, though, before the person on the other line is scolding him, voice raised.

"What the hell are you doing right now?" Atlas asks. Salem frowns, not appreciating his tone.

"Huh?" Salem asks, and he sounds kind of out of breath. He doesn't understand why Atlas is calling him at all, let alone why he sounds so mad. Salem and Atlas haven't spoken on the phone since they were in a relationship. Salem's surprised the guy still has his number at all.

"You could've fucking died, Salem. What's wrong with you?"

Oh yeah. Atlas follows Cam's page. Cam must've posted it pretty quickly after it happened, then. You can see Salem pretty clearly in the video Milo filmed, and you can hear Salem cursing in the one he himself took.

"Why do you care?" Salem asks, scrunching up his face. Then, he repeats Atlas' words from the last time they spoke. "My life isn't your business anymore."

"When you're trying to kill yourself, yeah it is."

"I'm not trying to kill myself," Salem argues, feeling exasperated. Leave it to Atlas to make this a big deal. Sure, if the ramp didn't hold up then Salem would 100% be dead right now, but it did. Salem's basically fine, so.

"You were covered in blood." Atlas argues. Salem is seriously wondering why this guy cares. He hasn't given a shit about Salem or anything he does for the past year or so, and now he's suddenly all worried. Granted, Salem hasn't gotten this injured from Cam's bullshit—or otherwise—in a long time, but still.

"And?" Salem replies, and he's feeling a bit drowsy again. "Like you're any better. You do shit like this all the time."

"Boxing and getting run over by a truck are two different things." Atlas disagrees, and he's being so dramatic. Salem did not get run over by a truck, this is stupid.

"Uh, illegal underground boxing." AKA the only thing Atlas has ever been arrested for that he actually told Salem about. This is mostly because Salem already knew the guy did that sort of stuff—his fighting was always so important to him. "There were like, no limits."

"Except I'm good at it."

Salem is really not in the mood for this. Atlas does not get to be all concerned and act like he cares about Salem, not after all the shit the guy has put him through. He's said some really hurtful things, and he's never even explained why he turned like that. It sucks.

"Okay, and I'm good at getting run over by trucks. Why do you care?"

"I don't care." Atlas replies, voice slightly defensive. Salem just rolls his eyes, because this guy has been so confusing since they broke up. Sometimes he cares about Salem's life, sometimes he's being an absolute douche.

"Okay," Salem says, and talking to this guy honestly hurts now. Knowing that Salem has no chance with him anymore, they'll never be together. Salem will never be happy...

"Bye, then." Salem says. Atlas immediately is objecting.

"Hang on. Where are you?"

"One of my dad's officers picked me up."

"Which one?"

"You don't know him."

The line is silent, and Salem closes his eyes, leaning his head against the window.

"Okay." Atlas says. "If something like that happens again, call me."

"No." Salem refuses, growing seriously pissed off at this guy's concern. He is not allowed to care about Salem, not after all the bullshit. Especially with all of the secrets he has, Atlas has no right to be questioning Salem or judging him on his life choices. "Bye."

Salem hangs up, and he wishes that he could erase this guy from his mind. That he would never have to think of him again. No, he wishes he could erase all the good memories and only keep the bad. Then, he'd feel the way he should about Atlas Marino.

"Who was that?" Officer Ellis asks, and Salem frowns. None of your business.

"My ex."

A silence. "He kind of sounds like an asshole."

Salem frowns, and he feels a spark of irritation. Why? He has no idea. Atlas deserves to be talked about like that, but still. Salem feels the strongest urge to defend him.

He doesn't. The rest of the ride to the hospital is silent.