by Traci Sek
By then, I had been there for a few hours. I had explained in full detail at the scene what had happened. I admitted that I was speeding and was distracted by my phone. They filed a police report, gave me a hefty fine but unfortunately for me, suspended my driver’s license and impounded my vehicle after checking it thoroughly for any drugs and alcohol. They knew my father, who graciously donated large amounts to the local police department, which meant they were not going to arrest me. Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t. I had done everything right according to the laws of California. However, if the girl were to sue me that would be entirely on me.
The first place I came to was the hospital. I had to make sure she was ok. But to my dismay, no one would tell me anything. My phone suddenly rang in my pocket making me jump. I fumbled for it, taking a second to recollect myself before answering.
"This is Jake."
"Yeah Jake, it's Josh. Kyle just told me the good news! I'm glad you like the building. When is it going to be ours?"
“I’m sorry what?”
My brother Josh handled the architect part of the company, making sure the structures and foundation were sturdy, and doing all major renovations. Our company was family run and owned. Built-up from my father's blood, sweat, and tears who was now the top dog or as they called it the CEO. Then there was me. I was in charge of all real estate purchasing, selling, renting, you name it. My sister Ashley was head of designs. She made sure that everything stayed classy and up to date from paint colors to curtains, carpet, and furniture. With our family team in place, we had become one of the best investment companies in the world.
"Oh play dumb now, I get it." He chuckled.
“I'm ready and waiting with the crew. We just finished up Lake Estates. So let me know when everything goes through. I’ll get a crew out there within a day."
"Oh, alright.” I was beyond confused as to what it was he was talking about. I hadn’t even thought about the building let alone giving Kyle the go-ahead.
“Dude are you ok? You seem a bit distracted.”
I cleared my throat and looked around at my surroundings. Of course, I wasn’t ok, but I couldn’t let him know that. If my father caught wind of this, he would for sure rip me a new one and that was being modest.
“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s just been a really long day. I’m behind with a lot of things.”
"Speaking of being behind, I just talked to Ashley and it seems she's fallen behind since she's been pregnant. Said she's been really sick." I sighed in frustration.
Typical Ashley, the princess of the family. Every time she messed up, one of us would pick up the slack. My father saw no wrong in his little girl.
"Well don't let dad know. I'll get some extra help in for her by tomorrow to get caught up. I don't need him having a heart attack."
My brother let out a hardy laugh before speaking again "Alright whatever you say. Listen I gotta go. Email me as soon as possible when everything hits. I'll have a crew standing by."
"Yeah, I got it, no worries." I hung up my phone and looked down at my hands. They were visibly shaking. I had no idea how I was going to fix this, but I knew I had to think of something.
When I was being asked questions earlier they couldn’t even tell me her name and she had no identification on her. I was determined to figure out who she was and I was also determined to make it up to her in any way I knew how. With that in mind, I sat back and waited.
Chapter Five
Jake
“ Good afternoon Mr. Williams.” My secretary looked up at me as I walked past her desk. “Mr. Mulligan is on line one waiting for you. He refuses to leave a message or call back. Here are your other messages for today. Would you like me to order you lunch?”
“No thank you. Hold all my calls until I’ve finished speaking with him. This could take a while.”
“Of course sir.”
I walked into my large office and plopped down into my leather chair. I tried my hardest to regain my composure after what I had gone through. My hands shook with full force and my head throbbed. After another hour of waiting at the hospital, they were finally able to tell me she was ok. Unfortunately, they wouldn't give me anything else. I gave up trying and left. I had a lot of work to do and sitting there arguing wasn’t going to get it done. Taking a few deep breaths, I picked up the receiver and placed it against my ear.
“Mr. Mulligan so nice to hear from you again. What can I do for you?”
Checking my wristwatch for the hundredth time, I saw that it had been an hour since starting the conversation with the ever so chatty Mr. Mulligan. I gripped the bridge of my nose with my fingers and rested my elbow on my desk, my patience was running extremely thin.
“Mr. Mulligan, I’d hate to abruptly end our conversation but I really must go. I have work piling up by the minute.”
After a few more not so funny jokes, I ended the call sitting back in my chair with defeat. I had to close my eyes to stop a migraine from occurring but the minute I closed them, I was haunted by the girl with the crystal blue eyes. The look on her face, a mixture of anguish and pure panic. It was like sticking a dagger in my heart. How could I have been such an idiot? Why did she not have any identification on her? Who was this girl? Most importantly, what was going to happen to her after she had recovered? Shaking the thoughts from my mind, I opened my eyes and pushed myself to finish the ever-mounting paperwork on my desk. It seemed like every five seconds I was checking the clock. Every five seconds my mind would wander towards the girl. I groaned in frustration and threw the papers across the room. I watched as they floated down slowly towards the floor. A soft knock on my door made me lookup.
“Come in.”
“I've taken it upon myself to order your favorite.” My secretary said as she walked in and briefly looked around. “It looks to me like you could definitely use a break.”
I smiled at the old woman who had been with the company since day one. She had become more like family to us than an employee. Her graying hair in spots was held together in a nice updo and her glasses hung from the tip of her nose as she looked over them at me. If I had the chance to meet my grandmother, this is exactly how I would picture her.
“Thank you, Greta. Don’t worry about the mess, I’ll clean it up.”
She smiled lovingly at me and nodded. “I don’t doubt that you will. Now eat up and whatever is bothering you, will get better.
“That’s the problem, I don’t think it will. And I don’t know how to fix it or help for that matter. I’m afraid it's eating me alive.”
“Mr. Williams, I’ve watched you grow into the young man you are today. You have overcome a lot in your life and I have no doubt that you will figure out what to do. Just follow what your heart is saying.”
Was she right? Could I help this girl in some way? How could I help her? It was then that I decided that I was going to help her one way or another even if that meant pissing off my father.
“Thank you, Greta. You always know what to say when I need it the most.”
“Any time.” She winked at me and left my office stepping around each document in her path.
Chapter Six
Emily
Opening my eyes slowly, I looked around at the cream-colored walls confused. A television hung from the wall in front of me and to the right of me was nothing but windows. A loud beeping noise filled my ears and panic began to set in. The beeping grew more frequent as I looked around frantically, finally landing my eyes on a small machine with squiggly lines bouncing up and down. I noticed large wires hanging down from the machine, which my eyes slowly followed reaching all the way up to my chest.
Where am I? Why am I trapped here? I tried to move but failed as the whole room spun and searing pain shot through my entire body. I cried out in agony, laying my head back on the pillow only to realize a soft sponge-like casing was wrapped around my neck. My trembling hands made their way to the material, making sure I wasn’t completely delusional. I closed my eyes and made
a strong effort to calm my wild heart and my heavy breathing. My eyes flew open at the sound of a door opening, landing on a red-headed woman in scrubs whose frizzy hair was up in a messy ponytail, making it evident of a long day. She smiled at me and came over.
“I’m glad you are finally awake. You took quite the beating from that car.”
My eyes grew wide. “Car? What car? Where am I?”
“Yes dear, you were hit by a car yesterday. You’re at St. Augustine hospital.”
“Oh my gosh,” I said, wracking my brain for some flicker of familiarity with what she was saying, but my mind was blank.
“I’m going to go get the doctor so she can explain things better to you. Just stay calm and rest, everything will get better.”
A few minutes of silence is all it took for a tall woman to walk in. She had long blonde hair and was dressed in a pair of green scrubs and a white coat.
“Nurse Rebecca told me you were awake. So I came to evaluate you and make sure you are making a full recovery. How are you feeling?”
“Terrible,” I mumbled, still trying to process the news.
“That’s to be expected. You have a concussion and severe whiplash,” she said sweetly as she shined a bright light in my eyes. The instant brightness made my head jolt as if I had been hit in the head with a hammer.
“Please stop! That hurts so bad!” I instinctively grabbed my head, only to realize the bandages wound around it. Bandages and a neck brace? What the hell!
She wrote something down on her clipboard and ordered the nurse to distribute more pain medication.
“Can you tell me your name?”
“Emily.”
“What's your last name?”
“Emily Nellish.”
“Great. Thank you and what year is it?”
“Um...2019?”
“Alright and Emily where are you from?”
I hesitated at the question. What could I tell her? From a foster home that didn't want me back? A complete sham of a system that threw children to the wolves, allowing them to walk without jackets to their interviews? However, if I didn’t answer, she would think I couldn’t remember and that would have made things worse for me.
“I was in the foster care system.” That summed it up. To my surprise, she doesn’t comment, jumping to another question.
“And how old are you Emily?”
“I just turned eighteen yesterday.” Wanting so badly to change the subject I asked my second question. “Who hit me? Do they know?”
“I’m unsure at this time. The police are waiting outside for your side of the story. I advised them to wait until I could check and make sure your memory was intact. Would you like me to let them in?”
I nodded slowly in fear of the pain coming back at the slightest movement. A couple of police officers made their way through the door, one pulling out a small notepad and a pen.
“Good morning miss. This is Officer Ramos and I’m Officer Ren. We just want to ask you a few questions about the accident.”
“Ok.”
“First off what is your name?”
“Emily Nellish.”
“And Emily, where are you currently residing?”
Uh, why did we have to keep dwelling on this?
“Well nowhere actually. I was in the foster care system as of yesterday. I turned eighteen, and the foster home I lived at doesn’t want me back.”
I watched as Officer Ren jotted down everything I told him. A grim expression lined his face.
“Do you remember exactly what happened yesterday?”
“Not really. It all happened so fast. I was walking to my interview thinking to myself and then bam.”
I felt myself becoming groggy and couldn’t help but yawn. The medication was starting to take full effect.
“Well thank you, Emily, for answering our questions. A young man in an SUV was speeding. He said he was late for a meeting and got distracted by his cellphone. When he looked up he saw you and slammed on his breaks but couldn’t stop in time,” Officer Ren explains.
Officer Ramos piped up next, “Miss Nellish, you do understand that you have the right to sue him for your injuries, right? When you are fully recovered of course.
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“You can also obtain a copy of the police report that was filed at the police station when you are able to. All of his information will be on there. It’s up to you to decide. Oh and here,” Officer Ramos holds out a business card. “Mr. Williams insisted I give you this.”
“He was extremely upset and assured us he would do whatever he could to rectify the situation.” Officer Ren added like it was supposed to make things better.
Not knowing what to say, I gave them a simple, “Thank you.”
When everyone was out of the room, I laid in silence. This could be my chance at freedom. If I sued him, I could definitely afford to live on my own at least for a while. What if he didn’t have anything to give you? But the officer did say he was late for a meeting. That means he’s a businessman and businessmen usually make a decent living. Right? I glanced at the small business card information which read Jake Williams, chief operating officer of Williams & Co. Yep, he had money. Tired and defeated, I allowed my body to drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Chapter Seven
Jake
It had been three agonizingly long days since the car accident. It haunted my dreams and occupied my thoughts every minute of every hour. I held myself up in my office trying to busy myself with anything and everything, but it was no use. The same questions with no answers plagued my mind and I really thought I would go insane.
My phone rang beside me with an unknown number. I stared at it for a minute before picking it up.
“Hello. Mr. Williams speaking.”
“Yes, hi. My name is Howard Hung. I’m an attorney with the offices of Morty, Hung, and Wright. It’s been brought to my attention that my client was hit by your vehicle and she wishes to pursue a lawsuit.”
“Oh God, I was hoping to resolve this civilly without any lawyers.”
“Well Mr. Williams that is a possibility but right now I’m following the wishes of my client.”
“Can I at least talk to her first?”
“I don’t recommend that. We can set up a meeting to go over all the details in which you may speak to her then. I advise getting a lawyer. My office will be in contact with you further. You should be receiving a letter in the mail stating the meeting time, day, and place.”
This is just great. My father is for sure going to find out and he’s going to kill me.
“Thank you, sir. I understand. If it’s possible can you email me instead of sending it in the mail? I would much rather take care of this as soon as possible. I run an extremely busy company, I have appointments all day every day.”
“Of course I’ll transfer you over to my secretary and you can set up a date and time and I will relay this to my client.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.”
“You are welcome, have a nice day.” Yeah, real nice day. What the fuck am I going to do? I’m in so much trouble it isn’t even funny anymore.
I made an appointment as close to that day as possible and hung up the phone. My thoughts were a whirlwind of chaos. However, I knew one thing, that I needed to talk to her. I needed to try and beg her not to press charges because if she did, I would no longer be in charge of this company. When it came to my father, he accepted no excuses. He didn’t tolerate reckless behavior and games. He was ruthless especially when it came to his company. My head fell down on my desk with a thud. All I could do at that moment was pray for a miracle.
The appointment had been set up for ten am at the hospital. I was already physically sick because I hated the fact that I had to go to the hospital. She wasn’t yet released due to her injuries which also made my insides twist painfully. To know that I had hurt this stranger because of my careless driving was more than I could handle.
I ha
d called my lawyer so that he would come with me even though I did not need him. I was determined to work something out that didn’t involve the court and any form of suing. I even stopped by the flower shop on my way and grabbed the most expensive bouquet of flowers they had. Every girl loved flowers right?
Squaring my shoulders I willed myself to walk through those dreaded hospital doors to fix the mess that I had created.
Chapter Eight
Emily
It was times like this where I wished I had someone to tell me what it was I needed to do. As if right on cue, the same red-headed nurse as before, nurse Rebecca entered my room.
“Good morning dear. I’m going to check your vitals again. The doctor should be in today to check on your head and neck. You might get a few more tests to make sure everything is kosher and healing but she will tell you that.”
I stayed quiet for a minute watching her wrap the blood pressure cuff around my upper arm.
“I have a question.” I started timidly looking up at her.
“Sure sweety, ask away.”
“If you were hit by a car would you sue that person?”
“Absolutely.” She said matter of factly.
“I’m afraid I don’t exactly know what it is I’m doing though.”
“Well I can’t make up your mind for you because legally that's not my job, but as a mom, I would tell my daughter that she needs to call a lawyer and sue that person for your medical bills at the very least.”
“But it seems so harsh and it seems like a lot of work. Besides, who do I call? I don’t exactly know any lawyers.”
“It sounds harsher than it is. I mean could it become harsh? Of course, if the person that hit you is a real jerk, he could fight you on it but if you have a lawyer he will handle everything for you so that you don’t have to worry about anything. My cousin is a lawyer and will be more than happy to represent you. I’ll give you his information and then you can talk with him. He’s very understanding.”
“Thank you. That would be really helpful.”