Sweet Lantern

Chapter 44

Darry

The crowd is walking toward the parking lot when me and the guys all decide to ask some of the rest of the team to meet us back at my house. Alice and the girls have already headed to the cars, trying to get to the house first to make sure everything is ready.

My blood is pumping, I can feel the warmth of the adrenaline as it rushes through me still. Matt isn't helping as far us being able to settle down, he's still jumping up and down and hollering with each new guy that he comes to. They're all feeling the victory, unable to calm themselves down.

"Man, that was awesome! You were on point tonight, Williams! Good game, brother!" Eric Hatcher says to me as we're passing each other in the parking lot, giving me a fist bump.

"Hey man, we're having a get together at my house, see you there?" I ask Eric, knowing he'll say yes. He never turns down a party. It gives him a reason to show off his girlfriend, Sarah Brady. He'd been after her since we were all freshman and he finally got her to agree to go out with him the last semester our Junior year. I couldn't blame him for being proud of snagging her, I knew how he felt, because I feel the same way every time I get to be on the arm of my beautiful new wife.

"Yeah, man, definitely. We'll see you there", Eric says, as he opens the door, helping Sarah step up into his truck.

We make it to Matt's Jeep just in time to see my car pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road. Jess and Brittany not too far behind Alice. Some of the other team is still lingering in the parking lot by their cars. "I guess not everyone likes public school transportation", Matt says, pointing our attention to the other team's quarterback and some of his friends, standing by a black pickup truck.

Joel glares in their direction, puffing up his chest, and starts taunting them about their horrible loss. Me and Kevin try to pull Joel back, telling him to stop being a jerk, but he's not having it. As the guys start walking over to us, I see why.

One of the guys walking toward us is Neil Rogers, a Senior at Morrow High School. He must have just joined their football team because he wasn't on it last year. Neil is a class A sleaze ball. The end of summer last year, he was dating Joel's sister. He took her virginity and then dumped her, telling everyone it was because she was horrible in bed. He humiliated her badly and Joel had laid quite the butt whooping on him then. They haven't been able to be within twenty feet of each other since. Neil refusing to own up to what he did or showing any kind of remorse at all.

"Joel, man, we don't need to do this right now. We have people waiting for us at my house. The girls will be furious, dude. Come on", I plead with him, pulling him back. I know we could take these three, no problem, but I'm married now and about to be someone's dad. I have other people to think about besides myself. "Joel, man, I can't be fighting in the school parking lot. I'm 18 now, I'll go to jail. I have to think of my family too."

That seems to do the trick and snaps him back into his senses. "Yeah, alright, Darry, man. Let's go."

We turn to get in the Jeep and Matt squeals tires out of the parking lot. We're all hyped up and screaming into the wind through the town's streets. We're happy to have won and I'm relieved that we aren't all going to jail tonight.

The light ahead of us turns red and we're forced to sit and wait next to Nancy's floral shop. I think back to just a couple of months ago, when she was bringing flowers to our wedding, the best night of my life so far. And then I hear tires screeching behind us. I turn to look and see that same black pickup truck barreling down the street toward us. "Man, are they about to slam into us or what?" I call out to Matt, trying to get him to just go through the light.

"Looks that way!" he calls back, stepping on the gas just as the light turns green. He floors it and heads into town, we have to be going over 65 miles an hour when he swerves to miss a car backing out into the street. The black truck still behind us, they slam into the back of us and the next thing I know, I'm flying through the air, into the darkness of the night.

I grasp for something, anything, but there's nothing to grab a hold of. I really wish I had been wearing my seat belt, but I think the Jeep had flipped anyway, so I'm not sure it would have mattered much or made much of a difference.

I feel myself slam into something hard, I feel the wince of pain shoot through me, and my mind goes blank.

I wake up to people screaming. It hurts to open my eyes, so I can only open them briefly. My chest is burning, and I can't feel my legs at all. I see bright lights, and colors swirling all around me. I realize it's the police and possibly an ambulance. People are crying, and then someone is beside me, asking me to tell them my name. "Daryl..." is all I can get out. My throat feels tight and everything is burning.

"No, Daryl, don't move!" I hear a man's voice call out to me and then I feel hands on my shoulders, pain rushes through me.

"Daryl, you've been in a bad accident, please don't try to move. We're going to get you out of here and get you to the hospital, but you've been injured, and we need you to be still." The voice says to me.

"Alice..." I manage to get out. "We have someone on the way to get her now, Darry." The voice tells me, reassuring me. Man, why didn't I put my seat belt on?

I feel myself being lifted off whatever I was laying on and then I hear screaming. It's hurting my head and my throat, and that's when I realize it's me, I'm screaming.

"Darry, I'm so sorry, man. I'm so sorry. I love you, man." I hear Matt's voice, is he crying?

I'm lifted into an ambulance, the people around me are moving fast, I can feel them rushing to do stuff all around me.

"Ali.." I fade out and see her beautiful face. She's smiling at me, holding something in front of her.

"Darry?! Daryl Williams! Can you hear me? Darry? Please stay with me Darry! Don't close your eyes! We're almost there."

I'm being pushed through glass doors, I keep going in and out of consciousness, I know this because the scenery keeps changing around me, too fast.

Now I'm in a room and there are doctors and nurses running around me like crazy. I hear the machine start beeping by my head and feel them pulling and tugging at my clothes. I hear something splash down to the floor beneath me and feel very faint.

"His liver is cut clean through...", I hear someone say, not knowing who they're talking about, but praying it isn't Joel, Matt or Kevin.

"Both legs... broken... possibly a broken back...." I hear someone else say and I start to drift off again.

"Daryl? Alice is on her way, please try to stay awake."

I try to open my eyes, but something is holding them shut. When I try to lift my hand to my face, nothing happens. I hope Alice is ok.

A sweet voice says my name. It's my girl. I want to see her face; I try to look at her, but I can't open my eyes enough. I barely make out the outline of her sweet face and I am finally able to move my hand enough to reach for hers.

I hear the panic in her voice, she's scared. She's reassuring me and I feel my strength giving way. But I have to tell her something...

"I love you Alley. I love you more than anything. I want to make sure you know that", I somehow manage to get the words out. "Please tell my son that I love him."

My son...

The room is slipping away from me, I feel myself being pulled backwards. I try so hard to hold on, and then I see her, standing in front of me again, everything around her is dark, but she's holding a lantern in one hand and it's lighting her up. I can see that she's holding the same bundle of something that she was holding just a few minutes ago, only this time I'm able to walk over to her. I look down and see that she's holding our baby.

I'm pulled away from her again and I'm screaming for her, for my boy... but she's not reacting, and I know it's all in my head. I'm leaving their world.