Misfortune and the Mystery . . .

The phone rang and immediately my stomach dropped to the floor. I knew something was wrong. You know that feeling when you're on a rollercoaster as you feel weightless and your guts churn as you revel in the pause that comes before the sharp plunge? That's what it felt like as I listened to the tune play on. There was something in the ring tone that sounded ominous to my ears only. Mia looked at the random number light up on my phone and gave me a puzzled look as I finally started reaching for it. It felt as if there was a string attached to my phone, pulling it back to the floor as I fought hard to bring it to my ear.

"Is this Danny? Danny Aldwin?"

I exhaled hard, letting out the breath I didn't even know I was holding in as I strained to come up with a response for the man on the other line. 

"Ye- Yes. Who is this?'

I could hear the panic in his breathing as he tried to calmly explain to me that I needed to go to the hospital. Now.

"Everything will be explained soon son, I just need you to come down here as soon as you can. Do you have anyone that could drive you down to the city? I know it's a long drive down and I don't think you'll want to do it alone"

His words felt icy and sharp. He picked his phrases meticulously, as if he was trying to send me a hidden message through the receiver. I felt Mia's hand graze my shoulder as she mouthed "we'll go together" to me. The man's voice was booming in my ears, so it's no surprise that she could hear everything as if it was her ear pressed to the end of the receiver, opposed to mine. She filled me with reassurance instantly when her eyes met mine. I knew that with Mia by my side, nothing could go wrong. She brought me back to my thoughts as she pointed towards the phone so I could finally give the man a response.

"Um ... Yeah ... but I- I should really call my mother to tell her —"

"Son that's not possible ... she's already here ... Just please, make it here as soon as possible."

I heard the phone disconnect as I found my mind filling with endless questions. Was my mom there for me? Or was I there for her? My head was reeling as I found myself unprepared to receive the answers to these questions. I shook off the fear, telling myself "What could possibly go wrong," as I called out for Mia to unlock the passenger side door for me. Little did I know, so much was amiss.

I thought about everything this call could mean on the way over. I tugged on the back of my neck as I looked at Mia with pleading eyes.

"Listen, I know you really hate it when I smoke, but do you think you could make an exception this once? I'm just kind of really freaking out right now."

"Yes, just this once Danny." She took a short pause to look me in the eyes, "As much as you need right now." She held in a breath as her eyes veered in the distance. She hated the smell of cigarette smoke, especially when it came from an underaged kid like me, but this put me even more on edge. Something must've been terribly wrong for her to let me smoke in her car with no hesitation.

I furrowed my brow as I pulled out my carton of cigarettes out and let my mind wander. I took one out of the box as I began to fidget with it in my fingers. I could feel my sweat percolating off of my palms as I exhaled hard — Once again, holing the breath I didn't even know I was keeping in. 

My chest felt so heavy as I begged my mind not to get sucked into a vortex of what if's, but I couldn't help it. I lit the first cigarette of many for this car ride as I endured the chill of the brisk, late night December wind. The wind stung against my face and hands, but I chose to feel that pain over the one that was starting to overtake my heart and mind as I shed a tear and reminisced on the man's last words to me, wondering what they could even mean.