Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I hated driving in the rain. The water pelted my windshield so hard I really began to feel anxious about having decided to meet my sister for an early dinner.
It was made worse by the dark night and I found it more and more difficult to see where I was going no matter how quickly the wipers cleared the water.
Mark and I had been inseparable but tonight it was nice to take some time away from him to spend some time with Sophie.
Feeling anxious and annoyed that I had put myself in a situation that I had very little control over, I contemplated pulling to the side of the road until the storm passed but I was only a few minutes away from Sophie.
We had arranged to meet. Her exact words were, ‘I want all the juicy details.’
I reached a traffic light, which turned yellow, and I braked slowly. I took a breath, trying to deal with my rising panic. The light turned red.
I heard the sound of brakes locking into place and wheels skidding against the surface of the road before I was jerked forward.
My car was flung right into the middle of the intersection.
There were more sounds of crushing metal while I held on to my steering wheel for dear life, pushing hard on the brakes.
Bright lights flashed to the side of me and I realized it was a car coming directly at me. My mouth opened in a silent scream when it hit the side of my car at an angle. My head hit the side window and pain exploded. My car spun off the road and into a couple of bushes.
I hurt. My chest hurt. My head was throbbing. There was no movement and no more sounds of metal against metal. It was silent.
Then it dawned on me what had happened. Car accident. I began to shake, trying to take in my injuries. Tears seeped out of my eyes as I touched my head and saw the wetness of my blood on my fingers. It was still raining but not as heavy.
Someone tried my door and after a few tugs it opened. “Are you okay?” the stranger asked.
“I think so,” I said despite the pain. It hurt to breathe. I undid my seatbelt but there felt like there was still pressure on my chest.
“Stay here. Help is on the way.” He disappeared.
I trembled, trying to figure out what to do next. Call someone. The rain began to slow down further while I tried to reach my phone beside me. I put a hand to my chest to try and ease the pain but nothing seemed to help.
Somehow I found my phone and I called Mark. It rang. Pick up, pick up , I pleaded, feeling my panic rise. It rang and rang.
I swallowed my tears when he didn’t answer. Who did I call now? There was only one choice.
“Tracy,” my brother’s voice was music to my ears and I struggled to keep myself from whimpering. “Tracy. What’s going on?”
I wasn’t making much sense in between my sobs. “I…need… ”
“Take a deep breath and breathe out. Tracy, I can’t understand you. You need to calm down.” His voice was calm but concerned.
I tried to do as he said but I was in shock and unable to string a coherent sentence together.
“Car…acci…dent…” I managed to get out in between hiccups.
“Where are you?”
I closed my eyes trying to remember the last street name I had passed. I mumbled it.
“I’m on my way.” I heard him talk to someone in the background but I didn’t care. He was coming. My brother, the one who had always put my safety first even when I complained or found it annoying. This time I welcomed it and regretted ever complaining about his protectiveness.
“Stay on the phone with me,” he said, and I nodded before realizing he couldn’t see me.
“Okay.”
I shifted and pain shot through me, making me whimper.
“Are you hurt?”
“Yes.”
I heard him swear before hearing him slam a car door shut.
“I’ll be there in five minutes. You hear me?”
I let out a low groan, trying to ride the renewed pain coming from my head. It felt like the worst headache I had ever had.
“Tracy.” Matthew’s voice was terse.
“Yes, Matty...”
In the distance I could hear the sirens of the police and wished they were closer.
He kept me talking to him even when I didn’t make much sense. I was shivering so much my teeth chattered.
The cops arrived and one of them came over to see me. “How are you doing, ma’am? ”
“I’m hurt,” I breathed with my phone still pressed to my ear. Matthew had quieted down.
“Let me have a look,” he said, shining a light into my face. “That looks like it might need stitches. Is there anything else? The paramedics will be here soon.”
“My…chest.” My breathing was labored.
More vehicles arrived. Lights flashing.
“Over here,” the cop yelled, and a paramedic took his place.
It was still raining lightly and water dripped down the guy’s face as he began to assess my injuries.
“You’ve banged your head pretty hard and it’ll need stitches. Do you have pain anywhere else?” His eyes were kind.
I nodded and put my hand to my chest. He touched it gently and I gasped at the pain.
“It might be a broken rib or badly bruised.”
“We’re going to take her in,” he said to the cop.
I held my phone even when the call to my brother abruptly ended and the paramedics moved me onto a gurney. I expected my phone to ring but instead I heard someone yelling my name and then a disheveled Matthew appeared by my side, looking alarmed.
“Matty,” I cried, feeling some relief since my ordeal had begun. He was like sunshine breaking through a dark night.
“I’m here,” he soothed. He grasped my hand and kissed my cheek. The rain trickled down his face.
“I don’t…know...” I tried to explain.
“Don’t worry. I’m here now, everything will be fine.”
They wouldn’t let him ride in the ambulance with me but he followed them.
Once I got to the hospital, I was rushed inside for a doctor to check me out. They needed to do x-rays to ensure I hadn’t broken any ribs but the gash on my head was going to need stitches.
It was a blur of activity and I was floating by the time they gave me some strong painkillers. I don’t remember much about getting the stitches but I felt the bandage on the side of my temple.
“The good news is you don’t have any broken ribs, they are just badly bruised,” the doctor told me. “The bad news is you’ll have to stay overnight. You’ve hit your head pretty hard.”
“I want to go home, Matty,” I pleaded, I didn’t want to have to stay overnight. All I wanted was to be back in the safety of my own environment.
“It’ll be okay,” my brother soothed beside me. “Tomorrow we can take you home.”
I frowned. I wanted to go home now but I saw that determined look in my brother’s eyes and I knew there was no chance I was going against what the doctor had ordered.
“Fine,” I mumbled.
The doctor left.
“Where’s my phone?” I asked, trying to sit up.
“Take it easy, Tracy.” He pushed me back down. “Here.”
I took the phone. I tried to call Mark but my head felt too fuzzy to concentrate. I frowned.
“Who do you want to call?”
“Mark. I tried before but he didn’t answer.”
“I called him as well but he isn’t picking up. I’ll call him again and you rest. Okay?” My brother raised an eyebrow at me. I nodded in agreement.
Where was Mark? I felt tearful again. Then I realized Sophie would be worried as I was on my way to her.
“Sophie.” I felt alarmed.
“She’s outside in the waiting room with Mom and Dad. They won’t let us all in here.”
My bottom lip trembled. “I’m sorry, Matty. I shouldn’t have driven in the rain.”
“Shh. It wasn’t your fault.” He gazed down at me and brushed a piece of my hair out of my face. “Some guy hit you from behind. There was nothing you could do.”
I remembered the sound of the screeching behind.
“Matty,” I murmured.
“I’m here.” He took my hand.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. I was sorry for a lot and couldn’t quite put it into words.
He smiled, deep dimples. “Ditto.”
I lay there for a while after he left the room, trying to wrap my mind around the events of the evening. I was thankful my injuries hadn’t been more severe but I wondered where Mark was and why he hadn’t tried to call me back.
My mouth was dry and my head was throbbing. I had been checked on through the night to make sure I hadn’t suffered a concussion, which meant I was tired, sore and grumpy. There was still no sign of Mark.
I had never felt so let down. When I had really needed him, he hadn’t been there. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but after an entire night with countless voicemails and no response, I couldn’t come up with a scenario that could have been more important.
Our magical night a few days ago had reassured me that we could do this but now I wasn’t sure anymore. Doubt crept in every second.
“Hey,” my brother said in greeting when he entered with a breakfast tray.
I turned my head away. “I’m not hungry.”
“Come on, you need to have something.”
I checked out the food but nothing looked appetizing.
“Have you heard anything from Mark?”
He shook his head. “If you promise to eat something and let Mom and Dad take you home when you get released, I’ll go by his apartment.”
Could something have happened to him? For the first time, I felt a sense of dread. What if something was really wrong?
“Fine.”
I did as I was told and began to shift the food around with a fork when he left. I managed a few mouthfuls of food before I shoved the tray aside.
The doctor came by not long after and discharged me, telling me to take it easy for a few days. Sophie helped me get dressed and I let my mom fuss all over me, but my mind was elsewhere.
I was irritable and sore by the time I got tucked into the bed in my old room. My mom gave me some painkillers and I managed to get some sleep.
When I woke up, it was late afternoon and I checked my phone. My brother had sent a message saying Mark hadn’t been at his apartment.
Where the hell was he?
The door to the bedroom opened and my mom entered.
“How are you feeling?” She came around to sit on the bed.
“Battered and bruised.”
“Ah, honey. I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.”
She was right, I was lucky.
“You want something to drink?”
I nodded. My head still ached.