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When we arrive at the hospital, Miranda's parents are in the waiting room. Miranda's mother is crying steady tears and her father looks like he's been through hell and back. I can tell he's trying to be strong for his wife, for his family.
"They - they were in a head-on collision on the free way. They had to be airlifted he-here," Mr. Chen informs us, his voice shaking as he wraps Rosie into a quick hug. Her hand never leaves me. I think about the severity of the car crash - Steve and Miranda were brought to the hospital by a helicopter. Fuck, it must be bad. Really bad.
"Miranda is in emergency surgery,"
Rosie squeezes my hand so tight, that I feel like she might break the bones.
"What about Steve?" Rosie chokes out. Mr. and Mrs. Chen shake their head, and I feel like my world is about to collapse on top of me. My breath hitches inside of my throat and my chest constricts. I can't lose him. I can't lose Steve -
"They... they won't tell us. We're not his family...yet," Mrs. Chen replies as she dabs the tears from her eyes. I watch as she reaches in and pulls out a little package of tissues for Rosie. Mr. Chen is rubbing his eyes, trying not to cry.
"I... I don't how his parents," Mr. Chen tells us, his voice breaking in the process. He shakes his head in defeat, "So, I couldn't- I couldn't call them."
Rosie is looking at me now with her big green eyes. The emeralds of my heart. They're puffy and red, tears spilling out and cascading down her cheeks. She softens when she sees the absolute fear and panic registering on my face. My heart has dropped into my stomach with the dread of not knowing what's wrong with Steve.
"I'm sure he's okay," Rosie murmurs, her voice doesn't sound confident and I don't blame her because, by the sounds of it, the car crash was bad. Mr. Chen's words bounce inside of my head, flooding it - They had to be flown in! Miranda's in emergency surgery! It's suddenly very hard to breathe and my chest is heaving, trying to get in all the air it can.
"I-I..." That's all I can say. My mouth can't form words. I feel like I'm being thrown back in time and I'm watching my mother die all over again. I never wanted to go through with it again and yet, here I am. At a hospital. My best friend since childhood could be dying in one of these rooms. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Flashbacks of every summer we spent together play inside of my head along with the regret of letting them leave the beach house. They should've stayed until the rain was over - why didn't I tell them to stay? Why didn't I beg for Steve to stay?
The reason why I didn't beg for Steve to stay is currently placing a firm hand against my chest. I wanted alone time with her. I wanted Rosie all to myself.
Rosie demands, "Breathe, Jeremiah. Breathe."
I feel the icky panic rising up my throat and I close my eyes and suck in a breath. The smell of sanitizer and hospital fills my lungs. It's overwhelming and it zaps every single one of my senses. I want to scream. Rosie rubs my chest and I exhale. When I open my eyes, I see that Rosie is holding out my cell phone for me. The moment I've been dreading all summer.
"Jere," Rosie steadies her trembling hand. "You need to call Conrad and Belly, and Steve's parents."
Her words are distant. They echo and bounce around the inside of my head. I can hear Belly already. I don't even know what time it is in Spain. What if she doesn't pick up? Something in the pit of my stomach tells me that she will. Rosie grabs my hand and forces the cell phone into it. The number is already on the screen and all I have to do is push the button.
I stare at it. I feel like a zombie. Braindead. I can't think or move. Everything is involuntary. My entire body is numb and all I can hear is the commotion of the busy emergency room. Phones and buzzers are going off, people are talking very loud about stuff I don't understand, and the staff is rushing around us like we're flies on the wall. It's pure madness.
I can't break free of the terror gripping me. At any second one of my best friends since childhood could die and I'm going to have to be the one to tell his sister. The only girl I have ever loved and I have to face her in the worst possible way.
"Jeremiah."
Rosie is wrapping her arms around my waist and pulling me into her body. She tucks her hand underneath my chin and forces me to look at her but I can't. I close my eyes so I don't have to face the truth behind her green eyes.
She gently caresses my jaw, whispering my name again. "Jere, please... look at me."
It takes every ounce of effort in my body to look at her. Her eyes are unusually pale, faded into sadness and worry. There's a permeant line of anguish between her eyebrows. Rosie moves her lips and words come out but I don't hear any of them. There's a buzzing inside of my ear. I swallow hard, my adam's apple bobbing in the process.
I clear my throat, and in a strained voice, I choke out, "What?"
Rosie repeats herself, "I'm right here - I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
I helplessly watch as she presses the call button and has to move my arm for me so that the cell phone is pressing against my ear. I feel like a little kid again and it reminds me of when I didn't want to talk to distant relatives. This is exactly how Susannah would force Conrad and me to engage with them. She would playfully hold us down and press the phone against our ears. But those were easy conversations, a simple 'hi, school is totally awesome, bye'.
The conversation I'm about to have right now will break the person on the receiving end.
It rings and rings, and each time that it rings, I feel like I'm going to puke. Until finally. It stops. There's static. There's movement. I can picture Belly answering before her voice swells into the phone.
"Jere?"
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1k! READS! Ahhhhhh - this is so exciting. I never thought I'd get to this number and I can't help but hope that this story goes "viral" on Wattpad before or after the show comes out. Give me all the reads and all the votes and all the comments!! I'm greedy and I want recognition for my hard work :P Hahaha, just kidding. I'm just happy that at least some people read it and are enjoying it. Thanks to everyone who presses that vote button, it means a lot <3
Anyways, I've had this chapter written for like... a year. Like this horrible accident was always going to happen to the happy couple and I felt evil for it knowing what was going to be in their future. I also wanted Jere to be forced to talk to Belly and Conrad... and this is what I came up with.
