Jesse's Girl 2: The Final Chapter

Chapter Nine

She was watching the road, music played in the background. She looked away for a split second to watch as a bubbly young child danced in her seat to the beat, and when she looked back she felt the color leave her skin. Another car at the intersection adjacent to her had blown through the red light. She couldn't stop, the opposing car was already too close and moving too fast, all she could do was swerve to the left in hopes of missing it. She realised it was too late, she couldn't prevent the inevitable. She let go of the wheel and grabbed for the child just as the car slammed into the passenger side of hers. Tires squealed and glass shattered as the force sent the car rolling and the girl was ripped from the protective barriers of the woman's arms. The girls screamed in both pain and terror until everything went black.

"Chloe. Chloe, are you okay?" The sound of her wife's voice pulled her back into the room. She was laying on Beca's chest still clutching her head and trembling slightly. She hoisted herself back to her feet and glanced between all of the worried faces staring at her. "What the hell was that?" A very concerned Beca questioned the ginger but it went ignored. Instead Chloe hobbled back to the bed and retook a tiny hand into her own. She just looked at the little girl for a long while, causing Beca's concern to grow. "Chloe?" the brunette tried again for a response but something snapped in Chloe's head just then and she was unable to control the sobs as the began to pour out. She rested her head on her daughter's chest and cried profusely.

"I only looked away for a second!" The scream was muffled against the child sized hospital gown. The weeping woman's friends exchanged glances with each other as they instantaneously reached the same realization. "Jesse was right. It's my fault. It's all my fault." She felts Beca's comforting hand rub her back and she lifted her head to look at the aforementioned man, "I'm sorry," then at Beca, "I'm so sorry." She apologized to the parents before turning back to the child. "I never should've taken my eyes off the road. Maybe I could've seen it. I could've stopped it. I was an idiot."

"Yeah. You were."

"Jesse!" Beca shot daggers at the man.

"What? She said it, I can't help if it's true."

"How was she supposed to know someone was going to hit them?"

"By watching the damn road! That's like the first and most obvious rule of driving!"

"Everyone does it! I've watched you drive down the road with your nose in your phone!" The ex couple began yelling at each other.

"Never with a child in the car! She had MY child in that car! Her eyes should've been laser focused on the road and I should've been visiting my daughter in your house! Yet here we are! She took her eyes off the road, she got them hit, she is the one to blame for all of this!"

Beca was about to defend her wife again but Chloe cut her off, "He's right, Beca. I had your child in the car, I Should've been more careful. It's okay if he blames me. I blame myself." Her voice was soft and eyes stayed focused on the child. She reached up and gently stroked the messy hair, "I am so sorry, Annie Bananny." She pressed her forehead to Anne's, "Momma's here now and I remember you. I remember how extremely smart and mature you are for your age. I remember how much you loved to sing and read and how excited you were to be a big sister. You were always reading and singing to my belly and telling your brother all of the fun things that you two were going to do together. I remember that big cheesy smile that makes you look so much your mommy but most of all I remember the sound of your voice and your beautiful laughter. I want nothing more than to hear that again." The affectionate encounter had the four adults feeling overly emotional. Even Jesse was so overcome with emotion that he had to leave the room. "Please don't leave us, baby girl. We need you."