Don't Say You Love Me

Chaprer Forty Three

Cohen

"Hello?" I answer my phone, and my heart is already beating so fast because of my make out session with Teegan, that was soon going to lead to sex in the hammock. Now, though, I know who's calling and I'm scared. Some sort of emotion comes over me that I can't place.

    "Hello, Cohen?" A woman's voice is on the other end of the line.

    "Yes, hi," I say quickly. Something is wrong. I know it in my gut.

    "Cohen... this is Lisa Rexton, Peter's mom."

   I already knew who it was, but hearing this makes it real. Yes, something is very wrong. Lisa isn't my biggest fan and there's no way she'd be calling me for any other reason.

   I glance at Teegan, who is waiting, curious.

    "Hi," I manage to say.

    "Cohen, I'm calling because there was an accident. Peter was in a car that was leaving a party, in Santa Maria tonight."

   There was an accident. Rex was in the car. My chest hallows out and I want to throw my phone across the yard so I don't have to hear the rest of what she has to say.

    "Cohen, Peter was brought to the hospital in Santa Maria. We just arrived, and..." Her voice is a bit too calm, which freaks me in even more. She must be in shock. "He's in very, very rough shape."

    "He's okay, though. Right?" I say, without thinking.

   There is no way that Rex, my best friend in the whole world, is actually hurt. Or worse. It's not possible. I just had the best moment with my girlfriend - she loves me and we are going to stay together and we are going to make it work - and now this?

   "I'm calling because I know you and Peter are very close. He has always spoken so highly of you, Cohen. He would want you to know. He would want you to be here." Still, Rex's mother's voice doesn't sound like a mother in distress. It sounds like a regular conversation.

    "He's okay. He's going to be okay?" The words just come out. I can't look at Teegan.

    "We don't know." These words hit me too hard and suddenly her voice changes, too. It doesn't sound strong any more. She sounds terrified.

    "No," I say quickly.

    "Cohen, I do think you should come to the hospital. I know it's late, but if something happens tonight, you should be here."

   My stomach drops again. My heart rate triples. She's telling me that my best friend might die, tonight. That's what she's saying. I don't know what time it is but it's late, and dark, and I don't have a car. How the hell am I supposed to get to Santa Maria?

    "He's okay," I say again, telling myself more than her. "He's not..."

   I hear her muffle a sob and then her voice cracks as she says, "Cohen, please. Come."

    "Okay," I tell her, because for some reason she thinks it's important for me to be there.

   I end the call and look at Teegan. I know we were just in the middle of a very intimate act that is now completely shut down, but she looks confused and concerned. It only hits me then that she doesn't know what I know.

    "Rex. He was..." I can't say the words.

    "Cohen... what's wrong?"

   Suddenly I'm crying, tears falling fast and hard. I can't control any of it and it hurts all over. I pull away from Teegan, who tries to pull me closer. She doesn't know. It can't be real. No.