Superman

Chapter 10

 I left early on the Fourth to begin the journey to my grandparents house. Normally it would have only been about a two hour drive but because of the holiday traffic everything was taking twice as long. As I cruised down the highway I just could not shake the feeling that something horrible was going to happen. I told myself I was being stupid and turned up the stereo to distract me but the dread in the pit of my stomach increased with each second. When I received the call saying that my uncle had burned himself grilling burgers and now everything was cancelled, I was relieved. If I hurried, I could still make it in time to pick up Pippa for the party.

I quickly turned around and headed back home. The feeling in my stomach increased as I got closer and closer. I was to the point of vomiting when I reached the wreckage. I slammed the brakes and caught a scream in my throat when I saw Julia, Pippa, and B.J. all inside the Walldridge's car that was now in flames. I jumped from the truck and my legs tried to give way beneath me as panic struck my heart. I forced myself forward.

B.J. was conscious in the back seat. His black hair was matted with blood but he looked okay for the most part. He had managed to somehow call 911 and was trying his best to stay awake while he waited for them. "Felix." He whispered. He put his blood stained hand on my arm and clutched it for dear life. He was trying hard to swallow back tears.

I tried to ignore the blood that was now on my shirt as I took the phone from him.

"911? This is Felix Armstrong. My friends have been in a car accident and it looks really bad!"

"Calm down, Felix. I have tracked your location and an emergency unit is on its way to you."

I could hear the sirens already. B.J. was crying his eyes out in the backseat. "It's all my fault! It's all my fault!" Julia was unconscious and trapped in the front seat. I told all of this to the lady on the phone. "Pippa! B.J. where's Pippa?" My heart lurched when I saw her. "Oh god!" She had been thrown out the windshield and was now bleeding heavily. I dropped the phone and raced to her side. I gingerly took her head and cradled it in my lap and willed her to be okay. "You're okay. Breathe. Just breathe. Open your eyes. Come back. It's okay. It's over now. You're okay. Wake up. Please wake up. Don't you do this to me! Pippa Walldridge don't you dare do this to me! I love you. I love you so much. Come back. Come back!!"

When the paramedics arrived they had to pry me off of her. By then I had reached the point of screaming. "Come back! Don't leave me! Please come back! Pippa!"

Everything began to go in slow motion as they laid her onto a stretcher and began to give her CPR. B.J. was still crying as they carried him up in an ambulance, but I couldn't hear him over the sound of my racing heart and my own screams. Only when she finally took a breath did I cease screaming. She was alive. She was still alive. There was still hope.

"Okay, get this girl to the hospital now." A paramedic cried.

I followed them into the ambulance and no one protested; they were too worried I would freak out again. I clutched Pippa's hand like my life depended on it. Tears were stinging my eyes and I just knew my heart would explode. "Please don't leave me." I said through tears. "I love you."

                                                                                             . . .

B.J. had gone to Pippa's house to pick her up for the party. But when he got there, his truck died. Julia offered to drive them in her car. A truck had come out of nowhere and rammed into them. Julia was killed instantly. B.J. had been in the backseat so he was okay physically other than a slight concussion, but emotionally he was a wreck. No matter how hard we tried to assure him that it wasn't his fault, he still cried and insisted that it most certainly was.