Heartstrings

Chapter Three

Mallory

Twenty minutes.

I watched the time pass on my phone. Twenty minutes turned into thirty, then forty, until it was past three hours. Somewhere beyond twelve am, and Reid was still out there.

My call history was littered with outgoing calls to him. I left Reid five messages, each with an interval of twenty minutes between sending. I swear that wasn't normal behaviour for me; I never wanted to come across as the clingy girlfriend, but Reid never vanished like this.

"Come on." I muttered under my breath, forcing myself to listen to the painful ringtone of an outgoing call for the hundredth time. "Just pick up, Reid. I promise I'll never complain about you to Cleo or Nina ever again. Not even Tony."

"Because every healthy relationship involves bitching about your partner to your friends." Cleo sat down next to me, beaming as she threw an arm over my shoulder. "What's up, pop tart?"

I blinked at her. "How drunk are you?"

Cleo looked over her shoulder, then back at me. She leaned in, then showed me her thumb and index finger pinched close together, with a thread of air between them. "Like this much? Is that a lot?"

I suppressed a laugh. "That's plenty."

Cleo grinned, then she sighed sleepily, resting her cheek on my shoulder. Like Reid did all the time.

"Were you calling Reid?" Cleo asked me, with her eyes closed.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, did you notice that Nina, Tony and Nick left already?" Cleo said, counting each name on her hand.

My eyes widened. I sat up properly on the loveseat. "What do you mean?"

Cleo looked at me, confused. "Yeah, all three of them got up and ran away. I heard them talking about going to Nina's car, because it's closest. That's why I came over to you." she said, letting out a random giggle at the end.

"They ditched us?"

I walked around the empty space, willing one of them to show up. But the grill and bonfire were abandoned on the side. I ran my hands through my hair, willing this to be some ill-timed joke.

First Reid did a disappearing act on me. Now, Nina, Tony and Nick followed his example.

I stared at Cleo. "I can't believe this."

Cleo snorted. "What, do you think it's easier for me?"

And then we heard footsteps pattering towards us from the darkness. Cleo clutched my arm, looking scared. I had to restrain myself from doing the same to her. I wouldn't fare well in a horror movie.

Thankfully, it was Nina and Nick. But Tony wasn't with them.

I rushed over to Nina and clutched her shoulder, my eyes searching hers. "What happened to Tony? Where is he?"

Nina swallowed, avoiding eye contact. Her eyes and nose were red, like she had been crying. "Something happened to Reid, Mallory. I'm really sorry."

My heart dropped in my chest. One sentence coagulated and realised my fears. The past hour's stress took hold. "What happened?" I said, my voice sounding hysterical and unfamiliar. "Is he hurt?"

A tear fell down her cheek. I watched it spill down her pink cheek. Time stood still for a moment.

"He got into a car crash. They found him about ten minutes ago."

My world began to collapse around me. It didn't immediately fall. Piece by piece, the layers shredded and teared before my eyes.

"He's being airlifted to Ormond Hospital." Nick said quietly. I felt him looking at me, but I couldn't move, think, speak. My consciousness was completely removed from the situation. I was sleepwalking through space, time. And it was all in my head.