50. Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty
Imani Boudareaux
Please Let Me Get There In Time
My phone rings in the dark, sharp and insistent, dragging me out of sleep like a hand around my wrist. For a split second, I consider ignoring it. Then, my chest tightens with a sense of fear I can’t explain, and I fumble for the screen.
“Hello?” My voice is thick with sleep and sudden anticipation.
“Is this Imani Boudareaux?” The young woman’s voice speaks professionally across the line.
“Yes,” I say, already sitting up. “Who is this?”
“My name is Clary. I’m calling from Elisha Memorial Hospital.
” The word hospital lands heavy in my post-sleep state.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, my heart beginning to pound.
“We have a patient here by the name of Elowen Briar,” she continues, professional but careful.
“You are listed as the next emergency contact on her file after the name Lise Briar.”
My mouth goes dry. “Yes, Lise isn’t with us anymore.”
“You’re right,” Clary says gently. “We attempted to contact Lise first, but it seems the paperwork appears to be outdated. We unfortunately learned on our own that Lise is no longer with us. We apologize for the delay of information. We promptly corrected the forms.”
The room tilts as I press my free hand into the mattress to steady myself. “Is Elowen okay?” I ask. The words come out urgently. I think I may be sick. There’s a pause. Too long for a phone call from the hospital, especially one hand-delivering news of El to me.
“Elowen is in critical condition,” Clary says. “She was brought in after an accident earlier tonight. She sustained significant injuries and we currently have her intubated and under anesthesia.” I suddenly can’t breathe. My chest locks like it’s forgotten how to shift with my lungs.
“Alive,” I whisper as a question. “But, she is alive, right?”
“Yes,” Clary confirms. “She is alive. Just in critical condition.” I close my eyes, relief and terror crashing together so hard it makes me dizzy.
“Where did you say you were calling from?” I ask, already reaching for my jeans on the floor.
“I’m coming right now.” Clary gives me the hospital name, Elisha Memorial, and unit information, the ICU, her voice steady as if this isn’t the worst call of my life.
I write nothing down because I will remember every word of this conversation.
“Is there anyone else we should contact?” she asks.
“No,” I say immediately. “It’s just me. She..
She doesn’t have anyone else.” My hands are shaking as I finish up the phone call.
The room feels too quiet, too normal for what I now know.
Elowen is in a hospital bed, covered in tubes, machines, and silenced until she’s stable again. Silence where her voice should be.
I grab my keys, my jacket, and my phone. And as I rush out into the night, one thought beats louder than my heart. Please let me get there in time. Don’t you dare leave me behind, Elowen. Heaven has too many souls that should be here with me. They don’t need yours too. Not yet.
The nurse guides me to a small room, that appears to be a waiting room, down the hall from Elowen. The doctors are still working and need the space for a bit longer. Plus, the police officers want to speak to me.
“From what we can tell, she swerved to miss someone. There’s tire tracks on both sides of the road.” The officer explains.
“Was she speeding? Was it intentional? Was the guy caught?” I ask a blur of questions hoping that would speed up the process.
“We don’t know who was driving the other car, but it is evident that another car was the reason for the crash.
A traffic camera outside of Darkwater did clock her speeding at about 80 mph, but this was a straight stretch that most run at about 65-70 anyways.
Even with all the slow signs. We have reason to believe that Elowen couldn’t slow down to miss the car and made the executive decision to swerve at the last second. ”
“I don’t know why she would’ve been going so fast anyways.”
“Do you happen to know where she was coming from?”
“We have each other’s locations so I can check that out. How do we catch who’s responsible for the accident?”
“We’ve got it covered. We’ll catch them. We have never been ones to be lackluster in our jobs.” Yeah, right. You, fucking sorry excuse for breath. Last time Elowen dealt with the cops, different ones, but cops nonetheless, she lost her whole childhood. I’m sure you’re so different.
“Please update me when you know more. I’ll be in the waiting room when they’re ready for me.” I head back down the hall to find a place to sit. Opening up the tracking app on my phone, I check to see where Elowen was last before jetting off.
Map Details:
Ella Baby - 6:42 pm - Leaving Henry’s Pump and Go - Top Speed: 54 mph
Ella Baby - 7:32 pm - Arriving at Crimson & Quill - Top Speed: 45
Ella Baby - 3:54 am - Leaving Crimson & Quill - Top Speed: 80
Ella Baby - 4:21 am - Crash Detected - SOS Alert Sent
My heart drops to my stomach and I have the sudden urge to vomit. I run to the nearest restroom and begin to dry heave. Nothing comes up as I lurch over the toilet.
I swear to God, if Beau Drewitt hurt her I’ll kill him.
“What the fuck did you do?” I pound on the door to the bookstore, screaming through the glass.
A closed sign hangs in the window and all the lights are off.
At the back of the store stands Kai, pouring a cup of what appears to be coffee.
Beau appears next to him and then whips his head to the door.
Before I can shout any more profanities, he’s unlocking the door for me. Kai looks like a deer in headlights.
As the door unlocks, I stand ten toes to Beau’s distraught, stupid face, “What the fuck happened last night?” The words tear out of me.
This shop is calm, too calm, with its neat shelves and the smell of dust and paper hanging in the air like nothing is wrong.
But my best friend is in a hospital bed, and he’s the reason why.
And she doesn’t need a man to burn the world down for her.
I can do that just fine. Beau lifts his head, eyes on me, his expression unreadable.
That blank face of his only makes me angrier.
Just as he starts to speak, I cut him off.
“She never came home,” I snap. My voice echoes off the rows of shelves, in the empty bookstore.
“Do you know where she ended up? Wrapped around a damn guardrail. And the only person she was with before that was you.” I jab a finger at him through the air.
“I checked her last location. Now, start talking before I fucking kill your ass in front of God and everybody else. And Kai, you better stay the fuck back.”
Something flickers in his jaw, but he doesn’t say a word.
His left eyebrow cocked up as if he was trying to read my next thought.
I close the door and push him back, attacking him, forcing him to speak.
My hands clamp down on his collar as I shove him into a shelf with everything I’ve got.
Books tumble down, cracking against the wood floor.
I don’t flinch, but he does let me move him.
“What did you do to her?” My voice shakes with fury. “What the hell did you say or do?”
“Imani—”
“No. Don’t even start with me. You think I don’t know her? She wrecked her fucking car because of you.”
“I need you to explain. I need to know everything you know.” he says. Kai starts to walk forward, but I snap my head towards him, causing him to still where he stands.
My laugh is harsh. “Explain? You need me to explain as if you don’t already know?
You. Caused. Her. To. Wreck. Her. Car. Last. Night.
She’s laying in a fucking hospital bed right now.
You caused her to flee this fucking shithole in the middle of the night and then someone tried to run her off the fucking road. Start. Talking.”
“She’s in the hospital?” he quietly questions, but inevitably looks back to Kai, every word measured. “But, we called every hospital. Kai, I...”
The sentence sends an icy chill down my spine.
My stomach twists and fury burns hotter.
“Yes, Beau. You can’t pretend like you didn’t know that already.
You mean you were totally okay with her leaving here in the middle of the night for no reason at all?
You just assumed she made it home safe and well.
I know you had something to do with that.
Elowen hates driving at night.” His face contorts and for a moment, I question if he did in fact know that Elowen hates driving at night.
His silence only feeds my anger. I jab a finger into his chest. “You scared her. I know you did. You somehow scared her enough to make her leave in the night. You would have had to frighten her enough to get behind the wheel and test her fate. You better believe I’m not going to let that slide.
If she doesn’t cut you off, I sure as hell will.
Playing your stupid games with her. Waiting on her to make the move because you’re too pussy to do it yourself. You make me fucking sick.”
For the first time, something shifts in his eyes.
Not anger, but something else I can’t place.
It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, it isn’t enough.
“You get one chance,” I tell him, my voice steady now, sharp as glass.
“One chance to prove you’re not the reason she’s lying in a hospital bed. Use it, bitch boy.”
For a moment he just stares at me. Then his voice drops, lower than before, each word heavy.
“Imani, I care about her. More than you think. I never wanted or meant to scare her. I searched for her last night. I called Kai. Then, we both searched together. We even made maps. We…We looked everywhere. I did things last night that I’m not proud of, but I genuinely believed by this morning, she didn’t want me to find her.
I swear on everything. I called every hospital in a thirty minute radius. Any viable option. Kai can vouch.”
I cross my arms. “That’s not a good enough answer, Beau. Besides, they flew her out to a hospital out west. Over an hour away. She’s in critical fucking condition.”
His eyes flash, something restless sparking there, like he realized something.
“She means more to me than anyone else has in a very long time. I was trying to protect her, even if it doesn’t make sense to you right now.
She did leave last night because of me. I can admit to that, but what do you mean someone tried to make her wreck on the road?
What are you talking about? Did they catch whoever it was? How do they know?”
“It’s none of your business. I’m here to ask you questions.
Not the other way around.” I yell at him.
“She crashed her car because of you. She wouldn’t have even been on the road last night had she stayed here.
You want me to believe that somehow that was a form of protection?
She needs protection because of you, not protected by you, you dumb bitch. ”
He shakes his head once, hard, as if the word itself doesn’t belong on my lips.
“You don’t understand. She was never supposed to find out like that.
I would have told her in time, gently, carefully.
Not forced it on her while she’s in fear.
” His words are strange, too polished, like he’s reading from a script only he understands.
My anger falters just enough for suspicion to creep in.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I demand, pushing my hands into my hair.
Beau glances at the door, then back at me.
His jaw is tight, his whole body wound like a spring ready to snap.
“I don’t have time to explain. I need to see her.
I’m going. I’ve got to go, Imani. Okay? Kai, you got this?
” Before I can press him further, he moves.
One second he’s in front of me, the next he’s past me, his shoulder brushing mine as he strides toward the door.
“Beau,” I yell, spinning after him. “Don’t you walk away from me. I’m not finished.” He ignores me. The door slams shut behind him, the sound ricocheting through the quiet shop.
I stand in the wreck of fallen things, my chest burning, my hands still curled into fists. He left the store with only Kai and I as the occupants, the entire bookstore wide open.
“Kai.” I start.
“Before you say anything, I can’t tell you anymore than he did. I was dragged in on his side. There are things you don’t know about this world, Imani. Let’s focus on Elowen for now, please.” Kai looks nearly shaken to tears, so I back off.
What could he have possibly done to my sweet girl?
Elowen, please stay strong. Even if I’m all you have left to come back to.