A Twist of Fate

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A Twist of Fate Page 4

by T Gephart


  “Hot date tomorrow night with Power Station” I volunteered.

  “Power Station? The band from New York?” He took a long look at me, re-evaluating and reassessing. “Lexi, I never would have pegged you as a groupie!”

  “Whatever, Matt!” I replied, not the least bit annoyed. “Emma and I have tracked their career since the beginning; we’ve been to every show together, we have every album; their music is like a soundtrack for my life.” I tried to not sound like an over excited teenager.

  Power Station was an all male 5 piece rock band straight out of New York City. Emma and I had stumbled across them 10 years ago when they were still nobodies, plugging their stuff on the now debunked My Space, trying to get a record deal. We followed their rise to fame when a major label finally signed them and we had even flown to New York together to watch their first stadium tour.

  I remembered that warm July night, like it was yesterday. Sitting inside Meadowlands Stadium, our hands clasped together tightly, not fully comprehending we were actually there! The boys we had watched on grainy YouTube videos had become Rock Gods, owning their home crowd. It was both surreal and rewarding to think our earlier support had played a small part in their now monumental success. We had stumbled out of the stadium; our ears still been ringing when Emma asked, “Where are we?? Did that just happen?” We clung to each other, absorbing the experience and not wanting it to end. We had attracted the attention of two New Jersey State Troopers who asked if we were ok, clearly looking bewildered and overwhelmed.

  “Are you girls from New Zealand?” State trooper 1 had asked. They looked like they could be twins, both men in their earlier 20s, had exceptionally athletic bodies, and were well over six feet. They also looked like they had both just left the Marine Corps with their buzzed haircuts and impeccable uniforms. Well Orrah! Uncle Sam, where do I sign up!?

  “New Zealand!” I scoffed, “I’m from Australia! You want to start an international incident?” I flirted as Emma grabbed my arm, dragging me away before I could get into any more trouble.

  “You know James is married, right?” Matt eyed me curiously, bringing me back to the present. He’d assumed like most people did that it was the charismatic lead singer I lusted after. Most women, regardless of their appreciation of the music, found James attractive. He was the typical all American guy and he knew how to shake his ass to work the crowd into a frenzy. His voice could be sweet and melodic or sexual and guttural. He had broken many hearts when he wed his high school sweetheart last year. Mine had not been one of them; it was never James I had dreamed about, it was Alex.

  Alex Stone was born in Finland; his engineering father emigrated with his wife and two young sons when Alex was 3 years old. Alex grew up in the States, embracing the only country he’d known as home. He grew up playing sports and electric guitar; passions which had lead him to find James in High school. His 6’ 4” frame commanded attention, especially when combined with the stare of his ice blue Nordic eyes. Where James was sexy, Alex was pure SEX.

  “Yes, I know James is married!” I scoffed. “Relax Matt, I doubt we’ll get that close.”

  “Good.” He took a breath before continuing “I just don’t want you getting into trouble. I’m not sure how the bail conditions work here.” His eyes sparkled with mischief. “You know I’m only on a temporary visa, I’m fairly sure I won’t be able to vouch for you.” I threw my post-it notes at him, hitting him squarely on his perfectly formed jaw. We both erupted into laughter, much to the curious stares from our colleagues.

  “Working hard?” Kate snapped abruptly. I hadn’t heard her walk up behind me.

  “It’s my fault Kate, I was just sharing a joke with Lexi” Matt volunteered.

  “Matt, while I appreciate your chivalrousness, I can assure you that Lexi needs no help in getting into trouble. Lexi... My office.” Kate stormed off without waiting for my response.

  “Sorry Lexi, I tried…” Matt started.

  “It’s ok. Trust me, I can handle Kate,” I reassured “I’ve known her long enough to know this isn’t an I’m pissed at you outburst and more I’m going to lose my shit if you don’t help me. I’ll be fine but thanks for trying to take the rap for me.” I took a deep breath and walked to Kate’s office.

  Kate was sitting in her usual chair, perched behind her desk, strain clearly visible on her face. I entered and closed the door behind me, slightly unnerved by seeing my boss and friend looking defeated. I’d barely taken my seat when Kate started. “Lexi, I’m tired... I haven’t had a dinner at home with the boys in two weeks. I have spent the past hour on the phone with some asshole about chair covers. CHAIR COVERS?! I need to go home, I just need a night without someone wanting something from me.” Kate was human, she felt safe in confiding in me, knowing I would never use her weakness as leverage.

  “Go home Kate. I’ve got this.” I put my arms around her and gave her a warm hug. Right now she was Kate my friend, not Kate my boss.

  “I can’t Lexi, this fucking client has changed their function brief three times and I just fired the project manager. I need to go down to see them in person and fix this; it’s going to be an all-nighter.” I hadn’t seen her this exhausted in a long time. Clearly, it took a lot out of her to hold her shit together as well as she did.

  “Go home! Give me the client details... trust me, I’ve got this. I’ll stay there all night if that’s what it takes. I’ll have them eating out of the palm of my hand. You know I can do this, Kate. This is why you hired me.” Kate couldn’t argue with me, she knew I was right. My value lay not only in my astute business skills but also in my ability to get the job done when others failed.

  “You would really do this Lexi?” Kate asked, hope hanging in her voice.

  “Of course! Especially seeing as you are going to give me a big fat bonus for doing it.” I quipped with a wink. Kate smiled, grabbed her handbag and keys. She gave me another quick hug before exiting the office. I picked up the function brief littered with red notations... Yep, this was going to be an all-nighter.

  ~~~~~~

  “You sure you don’t want me to come with you and keep you company?” Matt asked when we arrived back at my apartment.

  “And have two of us miss out on sleep? Where is the sense in that?” I reassured him. Besides, I worked better alone anyway. I had a “process” and I was more effective if I was left to do what I did best - AKA Get Shit Done!

  I quickly ran into my bedroom and shucked my corporate wear for jeans, T-shirt and pair of steel capped boots. Overnight set-ups with function crew were hard work and you needed to be comfortable and have foot protection. I grabbed a jacket on the way out, the air had already cooled significantly and it was raining.

  “Lexi... I hope you don’t mind but seeing as you don’t need my help, I invited Anna over to watch the game tonight.” Matt shifted uncomfortably. Anna had been flirting shamelessly with Matt for days and he seemed more than willing to reciprocate. I was surprised that I wasn’t annoyed; I guess we really were just friends.

  “The Game?” I queried.

  “Yeah ESPN is replaying Houston Texans verses the Jacksonville Jaguars and I promised Anna I’d explain how REAL football is played.” His eyes glistened.

  “I’m sure it’s THE GAME she’s interested in…” I laughed. “It’s fine. You should treat this place like your home away from home. Just let me know if she is going to sleep over.”

  Matt immediately stiffened. “I’m not going to sleep with her on a first date Lexi” he said, wearing the most uncomfortable look I’d ever seen on him.

  “No judgements here” I laughed and walked out the door. I was glad at least one of us you be having a good night.

  Chapter 6 – Crumpled Metal

  The event was a mess. Multiple changes and a lack of direction were only compounded by the fact that the venue staff had no idea what they were doing. I took a deep breath and I worked through one area at a time fixing the problems. Even those stupid chair covers! By 4am it wa
s perfect and I was running on vapours. I grabbed a can of Coke from the vending machine and strolled out to my car. The rain was heavier now and had made the roads slick and it was difficult the see the lane markings. I knew I was probably impaired from fatigue so I took extra care navigating the streets. There were barely any other cars on the road so I was thankful I didn’t have to contend with asshole drivers.

  I felt my eyes blink for a second too long. I knew that I was tired, so when I approached the traffic light and saw it turn amber I eased my foot off the accelerator, eased in the clutch, down shifting before applying a little brake. I had come to a complete and controlled stop by the time the light changed to red.

  To my right I heard the screeching of tyres and a horn. A black SUV obviously had not seen that the light was red, hitting its brakes and aquaplaning across three lanes of traffic before slamming side-on into a light pole, narrowly missing my little Honda Civic. Glass shattered from the windscreen and side window, metal crumbled like aluminium foil. The horn of the SUV was still sounding and I think I heard screaming. I was paralysed by shock. I sat for a moment, unable to move, silently thanking whatever higher power had been in charge of my narrow escape. I looked around half expecting to see someone, anyone, come to help, but there was no one. We were alone.

  I unhooked my seat belt and opened the car door, the rain pelted down, drenching me within seconds of being outside of my car. I ran over to the SUV which showed no signs of life, hoping that I would be able to offer some kind of assistance. I slipped on the wet road, grabbing the driver’s side handle to stop myself from falling heavily on my ass. Aggghhhhhh. Pain seared me as I realised that I had jarred my shoulder.

  “Hello... are you ok?” my voice was barely audible over the rain and the horn. I wrenched at the door and pulled it open to see the driver slumped over the exploded air bag.

  “Ugghhhhhhhhhh,” the male driver mumbled incoherently. I leveraged my body into the car slightly so I could see if there was anyone else in the vehicle. I pushed down the airbag and looked over at the side of the car that had taken the brunt of the impact and noticed there was a male passenger who was not moving. Blood stained the window and upholstery. FUCK.

  “Ughhhhhhhhh” the driver mumbled again. I reached down into my pocket to grab my mobile phone... Shit, where is it?! FUCK. It must still be in the car. I glanced over at my Civic, the ignition was still running, lights on. I needed to make a decision and I needed to make it fast.

  Adrenaline kicked in as I pulled open the back passenger door and climbed into the mangled mass of metal. “Can you hear me?” I reached across from my position in the back seat to gently shake the passenger’s shoulders. No response. By this stage the driver had regained a semblance of alertness and had started screaming. “Mike, Mike...Wake up dude... MIKE...WAKE UP!”

  “Hey, it’s ok...calm down... can you move at all?” I asked the driver, who nodded as he awkwardly climbed out of the car. I contorted my body over the seat so that I was now almost sitting in “Mike’s” lap. I placed my ear to his chest. He wasn’t breathing. Shit. “GRAB MY PHONE OUT OF THE CAR AND DIAL 000 TELL THEM WE NEED A MICA AMBULANCE NOW” I shouted to the driver who clung to his car door. “DO IT” I yelled not recognising the voice coming out of my mouth urging the driver into action as he took off into the direction of my car. Using my body as leverage, I pulled Mike out of the car. I knew he might have a spinal injury but I also knew his brain was deprived of oxygen and this was my first priority.

  The driver rushed back to Mike and I, talking to the paramedic on my phone. “Help me get him onto his back, he’s not breathing” I commanded. He shoved the phone into his mouth so his hands were free and he helped me lower Mike onto the hard, wet road. Instinctively I started pumping his chest. C’mon Mike... C’mon... I kept pumping as I felt his ribs crack beneath my palms. Mike was probably in his late twenties or early thirties and, if not battered and barely hanging onto life, would have been an attractive man. He looked athletic, not the kind of body that worked out, more like the kind of body who played sport. He had broad shoulders and was around 5’11”. He had ash blond hair which waved and kinked at the back and was now matted with blood. His body, which would have otherwise been strong and agile, lay motionless except for the recoil to my compressions. A small but definite cough came from Mike’s throat so I stopped pumping so I could listen. His breathing was shallow but present so I rolled him onto his side. I scanned the rest of his body and noticed blood was pouring out of his upper thigh. I had nothing to staunch the flow but my own clothing so I pulled off my t-shirt and improvised a tourniquet. My hand pressed down firmly above the wound.

  I could hear the sirens getting closer. My hands were covered in blood and I was sitting in the middle of the road in my bra. It felt so surreal. The driver had been pacing beside me. “Are you ok? You hurt?” I questioned without removing my hands from Mike’s leg.

  “I don’t know, I think my arm is broken, I don’t know.” He was clearly in shock.

  “What’s your name?” I asked him, looking up at him from my uncomfortable position on the ground.

  “Jackson” he uttered quietly.

  “It’s going to be okay Jackson, they are close” I said, gesturing with my head to the now visible flashing lights.

  The paramedics took over, their years of experience and training obvious as they asked me a barrage of questions while tending to Mike. I answered as best I could “No I wasn’t hurt.” - “No I did not know the driver or the passenger.” - “His name is Mike.”- “I don’t know how old he is.” -“His leg is bleeding.”- “I had to perform CPR.”- “No I can’t remember how long he was not breathing for.”

  Everything seemed to moving in slow motion. They hooked Mike up to different machines, finally satisfied that he was stable enough to move onto a stretcher. His head was strapped onto a board and an oxygen mask covered most of his face. Jackson was being treated for a broken arm and suspected broken ribs by another paramedic.

  “Ma’am, we have got to move him to the Alfred hospital, are you able to follow us in your car to assist with any queries the hospital may have?” I nodded my head and turned to face my car. They had already loaded both Mike and Jackson into the ambulance when I reached my driver’s side door. I looked at my blood stained hands and chest. My white cotton bra had now become a rusty brown colour. I pulled my jacket from my back seat and zipped it up. I slumped back into my seat and drove. As if on autopilot, my car found its way to the emergency department door of the Alfred hospital.

  ~~~~~~

  The police had arrived at the hospital and had wanted my statement, so I gave it to them as best I could. I didn’t really know anything. I asked if Jackson and Mike were ok but no one seemed to have any answers. Someone asked me if it was ok to take a blood screening for HIV and Hepatitis as I had been exposed to someone else’s blood. I nodded silently, not really understanding what they were saying.

  “Lexi is it?” a tall blonde nurse asked. I read her name badge: GRACE. “I understand you have been asking about the two gentlemen that were involved in the collision. Unfortunately we can’t divulge any personal information about their condition, except to their next of kin. I can tell you though that what you did was an amazing thing; you saved that young man’s life - without a doubt” She took a breath before continuing “Jackson, the driver, would like to see you if you are willing to speak with him?”

  “Of course I’ll talk to him.” I replied and I followed her into a curtained off area.

  “Hi.” Jackson croaked, his voice horse. I studied him carefully. He was a little shorter than Mike but looked roughly the same age. He too looked athletic but seemed like he took a bit more care in his appearance. He had definitely seen the inside of a gym. His hair was so closely cropped to his head that it appeared he had no hair at all. His vibe was strangely sexy and yet innocent at the same time. His clear, light grey eyes were clouded with fear and turmoil.

  “Hi, I’m Lexi... I don’t
think we’ve properly met” I touched his hand gently not entirely sure what the correct procedure was for our re-introduction but feeling the need to comfort him.

  “Lexi, what you did... you saved Mike’s life...” His voice trailed off, his eyes filling with emotion.

  “Hey, it’s ok...” I said a little uncomfortably “Anyone would have done it. You’re both ok and that’s the main thing” He eyed me for a second as if to consider whether to offer any more information.

  “Can I use your phone again... there is a call I need to make” I didn’t even pause before offering it.

  “Of course, here it is” I handed him my iPhone and watched him dial. “Would you like me to step outside to give you a minute?” I asked.

  “No! Please stay” he pleaded “I just don’t want to be alone right now” he said, fear evident in his eyes. Who the hell was he going to call and why were they making him this nervous? He held the phone to his ear and waited.

  “Hey it’s Jackson.” He paused to listen to the person on the other end. “I need to talk to James.” I could hear the incredulity in the raised voice answering him, but not the words. “Yes, I know what time it is and that he has a show tonight but this is important so you are going to have to wake him up.” Jackson eyed me as I started to piece together his riddle. “James, I’m sorry man, I really am... it’s Mike, we were in an accident. You need to get to the hospital man...no he’s alive...he’s in surgery now. I’m ok a bit banged up but nothing compared to Mike... You need to get here man... He stopped breathing but this girl saved his life... The Alfred... ok... see you soon.” He disconnected the call and handed me the phone silently.

 

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