Chapter 28
NEW YORK CITY, U.S.A
LYSSA
I was at Caroline and Chase’s apartment when Kevin called to say Mike had been in a car accident.
In that moment, everything slowed down and gained a reverb effect. There was a piercing ringing in my right ear. I fought it, trying desperately to listen, to think, to keep breathing.
Mike was in an accident.
Mike was in an accident.
“Is he okay? Will he be okay?” Caroline asked, her voice high and frightened.
Chase whipped out his phone and started booking flights.
Should I do that? Could I do that? I stayed glued to the spot as my brain rolled with panic, waiting for Caroline to say more, to say he was okay. He had to be okay.
Mike was in an accident.
Kevin said something else and Caroline’s whole body sagged.
“Thank god. Okay.” She mouthed he’s okay to us.
I exhaled shakily.
“I’ll be there…??” Caroline looked to Chase, who hit a few more buttons.
“Tomorrow night,” he said. “First flight out.”
Kev started explaining what had happened. Caroline fumbled with her phone but eventually got it on speaker.
“—over the track road,” he was saying. “The rain was awful, and another driver was speeding. They overtook Mike on a blind corner and were hit by an oncoming car. Thankfully, Mike wasn’t following closely. He was able to avoid a pileup, but his car went into the railing.”
Caroline’s horrified eyes met mine.
Mike was in an accident.
“Mike wasn’t going too fast for the wet road, and he didn’t spin out, so miracle of miracles, his car didn’t go over the side.
He’ll be okay, Bucket. Cracked ribs, mild concussion.
Those things heal. He’s zonked on Scoobie Snacks right now.
It’s—” There was a pause, which meant that Kev was looking at his watch.
Kevin Holliday was the only person I knew who still wore a watch with hands that ticked.
Suddenly, I wanted to laugh hysterically.
Mike was in an accident.
“—just after seven in the morning; they brought him in late last night,” Kev was saying. “He’ll be here until the X-rays come back and confirm what the doctor said, but they think he might be able to go home tonight or tomorrow morning.”
There were a million, bazillion things on the tip of my tongue. My brain was flipping through them all like tabs in a fashion book, but I made myself stay quiet.
Mike was in an accident.
“That’s good.” Caroline breathed. “That’s very good news.”
“What about the oncoming car?” Chase asked. “Are they okay?”
Caroline’s grip on my arm became painful.
“Yes,” Kev replied. “The driver of the oncoming car has a concussion but she’ll be okay. Her kids were in the back”—Caroline moaned but Kev added quickly—“but they’re fine. Traumatized, but physically uninjured. The guy in the Hilux who overtook Mike is unhurt?—”
Caroline barked a bitter laugh, fury twisting her face.
“—but his car is totaled. And before you ask, Bucket, yes, he’ll be charged with reckless driving.”
“And he’ll appear in court?” she asked, her jaw rigid.
“Yes.”
Caroline sank onto a stool at the kitchen island. She promised to let Kev know when she reached Auckland, and after a few sips of the tea Chase insisted she drink, she disappeared into their room to pack.
I barely registered Chase steering me to a stool and pressing a mug of tea into my hands.
The man didn’t even drink tea, but both he and I had learned that it was as much an emotional crutch for New Zealanders as it was a beverage.
Someone was sad? Kiwis made tea. Shocked, stressed, angry? Tea, tea, tea. Mike liked lemon in his.
I wondered who was making Kevin a cup of tea right now. Then I had to put my mug down to wipe my streaming cheeks.
Mike was in an accident.
Chase’s hand was on my shoulder. I stared like it was someone else’s hand and someone else’s shoulder.
“I’ll arrange someone to feed Root Beer for you, Lyssa,” he said.
It took me a while to join the dots.
“Do you think it would be okay if I went to Aotearoa too?” I asked.
Mom hadn’t canceled my credit card yet, so I could put some flights on there. Maybe she would even understand if I told her why. Maybe. More likely, Charles would understand, and he could talk to her for me.
I was thinking about how to appeal to my stepdad when I realized Chase was answering me.
“Lyssa, I booked you a seat with Caroline. Was that not clear?” He looked around the room right as Caroline appeared with her pink suitcase. “I thought it was clear I was getting flights for both of you?”
Caroline reassured him that it was. To me, she said, “Of course you’re coming, Lyssa.”
“I don’t know if Mike will want to see me. I was a bitch to him before I left.”
Caroline stared at me. I had the very strong feeling I was missing something, but it wasn’t clear what. Why wouldn’t people hurry up and tell me things? Why did everyone move so slowly when things mattered?
Mike was in an accident!
“Lyssa,” Caroline said gently. “Honey bee. Mike was on his way to the airport. He was coming here. To see you.”
Her words ricocheted around my skull. I had to put my tea back down on the coffee table.
I pulled apart the letters of each word, like mental slime, and smushed them back together again and again, trying to make sense of them.
Chase and Caroline let me be. When my functions came back online, I took a cab home and packed with record speed.
I didn’t plan color stories or lay out options to evaluate combinations—I just threw stuff in my suitcase and zipped it.
Chase hired a car to take Caroline and I to JFK—he had to stay in New York, he had some ethics panel thing on Saturday—and by seven p.m. we were in the members’ lounge.
We’d been there an hour when I got the text.
Mike
NOT THE SURPRISE I HAD IN MIND, SORRY GIRL
My thumbs rapped my heartbeat across the screen.
How are you? Are you in pain?
NAHHHHH THEY PUT ME ONN THE GOOD STUFF
RIBS AREJUST GRILLZ FOR YOUR LUNGS ANYWY
Before I could respond, he messaged again.
DID DAD TELL CAROLINE THE GHUY WILL BE CHARGED? SHE SHOULD KNOW HE WILL B HCARTED. I DON’T WANT MT SIS TO CRY
My poor, high Mike.
Yes, he told her. Caroline and I are at JFK now, sweetheart. We’ll see you soon.
SWEETHEART. I LIKE THAT
The typing bubble was there for ages, and I genuinely worried he’d fallen into a coma. Eventually his message came through.
COME HOME TO ME