by J. Preston
“He’s left already. He slept on the couch. But it all makes sense now. He was quite traumatised last night, kept on murmuring to himself about crazy eyes. Must have been after his conversation with Chloe.”
“I’ll try calling her again,” I say, interrupting his musings.
“Okay, I’ll do the same.”
“No, I need to talk to her. I need to explain. She deserves to hear everything from me.”
Carter reluctantly agrees, and I finish the phone call, dialing Jenny’s number straight away.
Voicemail.
I hate voicemail with a passion right now.
My skin crawls and I’m itching to do something. I can’t stay in the house, not while she’s alone, thinking I’ve done God knows what.
I text Jenny. “Please call me” and “I need to explain”, then “It was all a lie.” But before I spam her inbox, I decide to go look for her. Kitt wasn’t parked up front, and it finally clicked that she must have taken her car and gone somewhere, maybe for a drive?
First things first, though. I head down to the campus, hoping that she’d have gone straight to Hayley. Disappointment fills my veins as my heart sinks at the sight of a nearly empty parking lot outside of the dorms, Kitt nowhere in sight.
At least I know where she is not. Not at home, Carter’s, or Hayley’s, so maybe she went for a drive. Trying to clear her head. Maybe she’s driving around now and I’m sitting here like an idiot, waiting for a miracle to happen.
Pulling out of the parking lot and heading in the direction of the city centre, I notice my hands are shaking slightly. I’m agitated. No, I’m worried. Worried that something happened to her, that I’ll never have a chance to explain.
The worst-case scenarios are flooding my mind when the phone rings in my pocket. I quickly undo my seatbelt and pull it out, hitting the answer button without even looking at the caller ID and putting it on speaker.
“Hello? Jenny?” I say, slowing down to the speed limit.
“Nope. Only me, your favourite future brother-in-law.” Jason’s cheerful voice is a stark opposite of my gloomy mood.
“Are you home? Is Jenny there?”
“Yup, aaaand nope! Where are you guys? I thought you’d be here.”
“Shiiit,” I swear.
“What’s wrong?”
“She saw the text from Chloe before I got to tell her anything. And now…and now she’s gone. Fuck Jason, what if I messed it up? What if she never forgives me for lying to her, not telling her everything straight away?” My eyes burn.
“Jesus, calm down, Aiden! She loves you. You just need to talk to her. She’ll understand. She probably just needed a breather.” I need to find her first, I think as I speed down the road and through an amber light, barely making it before it turns to red. I make a conscious effort to slow down again, meandering through the streets of Starwood.
“I’ve got to go. I need to find her.”
“Okay, well…let me know if I can do anything to help?” I don’t reply, instead I switch off and try Jenny again.
“Hi, you’ve reached the phone of a megageek,” her cheerful voice greets me again. I sigh. “You know what to do after the beep.”
“Jenny…” I say after a pause. “I think you saw the text message from Chloe. I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to explain earlier. Aaahh, I want you to know that the whole thing with Chloe…it was all a lie. She lied about everything. Being pregnant, sleeping with me… It was all a ploy to get Jason back. I should have told you everything straight away. I was going to. I’m so sorry. I love you. I love you so mu—” my voice breaks, and I press the gas pedal harder.
I think I just saw her car. To catch up to her, I speed through the intersection like a maniac, running a red light.
As the blue truck hits the side of my jeep, I realise I forgot to put my fucking seat belt back on. Jenny will be so mad. She hates it when I speed. She hates it when I don’t wear the seatbelt. She always says it’s dangerous and stupid…
Jenny.
The force of the collision throws me against the wind shield, breaking it in the process. As I tumble through the air above the hood of my jeep, I don’t feel any pain, at least not the physical kind.
My heart hurts.
I need to see her again.
36 One Voicemail
I’m not arguing. I’m simply explaining why I’m right.
- Jason
Jenny
“Wow,” Hayley says after I fill her in on the events from last night and this morning.
“That’s one way to put it,” I grumble.
“You know, maybe you should talk to Aiden. Let him explain.”
“I know, I’m going to. I just needed some space.” I sigh. “To be honest, I thought he’d call by now.”
“He hasn’t?”
I shake my head, frowning as I pull my phone out of my hippo mouth pocket. The screen is black.
I swipe at it a couple of times before Hayley tsks at me, pulls it out of my hand, and plugs it in to charge. We both look at it silently, as it takes its sweet ass time to switch back on.
“No battery. Classic,” I sigh with relief. For a moment, I thought Aiden really didn’t care about where I was or what happened.
When the screen finally flashes back to life, I grab my phone and stare at it intently. Fifty missed calls, fourteen text messages, one voicemail. I scroll through my texts, first reading, scanning through the names, and going straight for the ones from Aiden. I sigh with relief when I see that the whole thing was a lie.
There’s a story he can explain. He’s not a dad. Phew. That was a close call. I’m seriously too young and too pretty to be an evil stepmother. Although… No. Too young and too pretty. Fact.
Next, I read messages from Cart and Jason. Where are you? and, Call Aiden! seem to be repeating themselves. Then, the last message from Jason chills my bones. There’s something wrong. Breathless, I re-read the message over and over again. Jennifer, call me NOW, it says. It’s urgent.
Jason never calls me Jennifer. Ever. Unless it’s a life and death situation. Last time he did was when Grandma passed away.
I’m about to hit the call button when I hear Hayley’s voice. “Shit, my phone was on silent all this time.” Her phone starts buzzing in her hand, and she picks it up instantly.
“Yes?” she answers. “She’s here. What’s going on? I only just saw the texts.” Terror flashes in her eyes, and I know something is horribly, horribly wrong. I look at my phone, then at her. Her eyes are wide. She picks up a pair of jeans lying on the floor and starts pulling them on. “We’ll be there as soon as we can, which hospital?” My heart stops beating. “Okay, see you shortly.” She finishes her call.
She quickly pulls a t-shirt on and a pair of shoes, then looks at me. “Give me your car keys,” she says steadily. I point to her bed where I threw the keys. She grabs them, then reaches for my hand. “Breathe.” I nod and let my lungs fill with air. Before I know it, Hayley is pulling me out of the room, down the stairs, and into the parking lot.
I must have had an out of body experience because, before I notice what’s going on, I’m sitting in the passenger seat. I don’t remember going across the lot or getting into Kitt though. Hayley turns the ignition on, straps my seatbelt on, and pulls out of the lot quickly. I feel like a child that doesn’t know what’s going on but knows that something bad has happened.
“That was Jason on the phone,” she says. I nod. This much I figured out. I also know that whatever is going to follow is not going to be good. No ‘We just won the lottery’. I can put two and two together.
‘Hospital’. ‘We’ll be there as soon as we can’, she said. She needed me with her, in the car, before she said that Jason was the one who called. That means whatever has happened involves me, or that I would break down as soon as she filled me in. Jesus, what could have happened? I need to be strong. Breathe Jenny.
“Jenny,” Hayley speaks again after a pause. I turn my head to look at her
, hoping, wishing, that whatever comes next has nothing to do with A— “Aiden was in an accident; he’s in the hospital.”
Just like that, the ground slips from under me. The universe sure has a funny way of throwing things at you. I thought that text was bad; I guess it wasn’t bad enough. Here, have some more tragedy, Jenny. My vision blurs, my cheeks are wet.
“Jenny?” Hayley asks.
I don’t reply. Instead, I look down at my blurry phone, at the voicemail he left me, and press the button to play it, putting the phone to my ear.
It’s quiet for a few seconds then “Jenny…” Aiden’s beautiful voice says my name. If I close my eyes, I can pretend he’s next to me, his mouth by my ear. “I think you saw the text message from Chloe. I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to explain earlier.” He pauses, inhaling loudly. My free hand flies to the middle of my chest, pressing my palm against my aching heart. “Aah,” he continues. “I want you to know that whole thing with Chloe…it was all a lie. She lied about everything. Being pregnant, sleeping with me…” I know, Aiden, I know. I want to tell him, but he continues without waiting for my reply. “It was all a ploy to get Jason back. I should have told you everything straight away.” It’s okay. I know it must have been hard. I didn’t give you a chance to explain. Tears are running down my face as I clutch the phone harder to my ear. “I was going to.” I believe you. “I’m so sorry.” Don’t be. I’m the one who should be sorry. “I love you.” His voice cracks. I love you too. “I love you so mu—”
He doesn’t finish. Instead, I hear the engine gather speed, then a loud bang.
And an ear shattering scream.
The scream is mine.
37 Beep
Oh, God. Please no.
- Jenny
Aiden
Jenny…
“I love you.”
I love you too, kitten.
“Please come back to me.”
I’m here.
“You promised. You promised me we’ll be together. Until we get old.”
I’m here. We will…
“Don’t break your promise.”
I wouldn’t, not ever.
“I love you.”
I love you too. Why do you sound so sad?
“Come back to me, please.”
Jenny… I’m here.
“You promised me forever.”
You are my forever.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Jenny? What’s this sound?
“Nurse! Nurse!”
38 Family
They say you are what you eat. Funny, I don’t remember eating ‘sexy’ this morning.
- Aiden
Jenny
I give myself five minutes.
Five minutes for a full on breakdown.
Five minutes is too much.
Five minutes is not enough…
Five minutes is exactly how long it takes us to get to the hospital.
As Hayley parks the car, I shake myself out of the despair I’m feeling, knowing that it’s time to put on my big girl pants and be strong.
Be strong for him.
I run from the car, through the parking lot, narrowly missing being hit by an unassuming, blue Jetta. The driver shouts after me, but I can’t hear him. All I see is the glass door entrance to the hospital as it gets closer and closer until, finally, it automatically opens in front of me. I stop, and tentatively walk through and to the information desk. A middle-aged, tired-looking nurse wearing flowery scrubs and large, red rimmed glasses looks up at me expectantly.
“Aiden. Aiden Vaughn,” I gasp out, trying to catch my breath. She just keeps on looking at me, so I clear my throat and start again. “Can you tell me where Aiden Vaughn is, please? He was...in an ac-cident.” My voice breaks on the last word, and I fight back the tears. In my head, the last bit from the voicemail, the crash, is playing on repeat. The screeching tires, breaking glass, screams of passers by… Then, silence as the message ends.
I need to be strong.
The nurse types something on her computer, then looks up at me.
“He’s in surgery, but only family is allowed in the waiting room.”
“I-I’m—” Tears threaten to break free again when a familiar voice says behind me,
“She’s his sister.”
I nod.
“And you are?”
“I’m their step-sister,” Hayley says. Quick thinking. I’d have never thought of that. I nod again, this time with more conviction. The nurse looks at the both of us, narrowing her eyes, then back at the screen, muttering something to herself, shaking her head.
It seems Hayley’s white lie has worked, because, soon, we are walking through winding corridors until we reach a small waiting room with a few plastic chairs and a dying ficus plant in the corner.
Two figures stand up and rush toward us when we arrive.
“Grasshopper.” Carter pulls me into a hug. The world blurs as fresh tears stream down my cheeks and onto his shirt. I allow myself a minute of being weak, then take a deep breath and step out of Carter’s warm embrace.
I wipe my cheeks with the sleeve of my jumper and look around. “Tell me everything.”
“We don’t know much,” Carter hesitates.
“Then tell me what you know.”
“Jen…” Jason interrupts. I whirl around to face him just as the double doors open.
“Nurse Riley.” Carter beams at her. She shakes her head and arches her brow, looking around at us with disbelief.
“I see Aiden’s family is ever growing,” she mutters to herself.
“I’m his sister,” I burst out.
Jason snorts quietly. “That’s just wrong. So wrong.”
“Step-sister,” Hayley chimes in, putting her hand up like we’re in class and she’s just been called upon.
“Ooooh, we’re doing the introductions?” Carter says in a husky voice. “This is Aiden’s cousin, no one important, really.” He points to Jason before putting his palm on his chest and taking a step toward the very pretty nurse, who looks unimpressed. “And I am Aiden’s better looking brother, but you may have noticed that already.” He winks at her.
Nurse Riley takes a deep breath and turns to leave.
“Ma’am.” I run to her. “Can you tell me how he is? Please?”
“It’s Riley. My mom is a Ma’am,” she says gently. “His sister, huh?” I nod, my eyes pleading. She puts her hand on my shoulder, and I swear it weighs a ton. Please let him be okay. “What’s your name, hon?”
“Carter!” Carter shouts from the corner. “But you can call me sugar plum,” he finishes in a stage-whisper. I shot him a look that could shrivel his nuts if I had the magical powers of Hermione. But I don’t, so I just turn back to the kind nurse.
“Jenny.”
“Well, Jenny, your ‘step-brother’ is in the best possible hands he could be. He is currently in surgery and we are doing the best we can…”
“How long will he be in surgery for?”
“I can’t tell you that, but there’s a lot of damage and internal bleeding.”
“Could you—?”
“Yes,” she reads my mind. “I’ll come back every so often to let you know how it’s going. For now, rest assured that the surgeon is doing everything he can to keep him alive.”
“Thank you,” I whisper and hug her. She strokes my hair and unwraps my arms from around her. She smiles a small smile, then turns to leave. Carter runs after her, hot on her heels.
“Seriously, does he ever stop?” Hayley grimaces.
“Give him a break,” Jason says. “It’s his coping mechanism. When things get tough, or awkward, or scary, or are normal…he flirts.”
Hayley grunts, then flops on one of the plastic chairs. I walk over and sit next to her, glancing at the white clock on the wall, at my shoes, the clock, my nails, the clock again.
The clock is definitely broken.
I get up, pace around the room, sit down again, and flick through a magazine, l
ook up at the clock again…
How the hell has it only been five minutes?
“I’m going to grab a coffee. Anyone want a coffee?” I jump up from my seat, my fists clenched. The need to do something, keep busy, is overpowering.
No one replies, so I just leave in search of the cafeteria. It takes me half an hour to find it, get coffees for everyone, then make my way back to the rest of the group.
As I near the door, balancing the styrofoam cups filled with the magical liquid, the nurse from earlier walks into the corridor. She looks at me and smiles. My heart flutters in hope. She reaches me and opens the door to the waiting room for me. Her eyes are tired and sad, and I nearly drop the coffee cups when I realize she’s coming with the news I was hoping for.
A tear trickles down my cheek as I put the coffees on the table and turn to face her.
“The surgery is finished,” the nurse says, then takes a deep breath. “It was very difficult. A lot of internal bleeding.” I feel Carter and Jason step behind me in a protective manner as the nurse continues, unaware of the fact that each word she utters stabs my soul. I hang my head. “Jenny,” she places a hand on my shoulder and gently squeezes. “We fixed what we could but,” I see a water droplet on the floor. I stare at it intently as another one drops from my eye and joins it, making it a tiny bit bigger. “He’s in a coma,” she finishes.
My head whips up. “He’s alive?” Please say yes, please say yes.
She grimaces. “Yes, but the next few days are touch and go.” All I hear is that Aiden is alive. He’s alive! A rush of emotion overwhelms me. Alive!
“Can I see him?” I plead, barely able to choke out the question as the lump of relief grows in my throat. She’s silent for a while, studying my features, then nods, almost imperceptibly.