Just a Memory

Too Close to Call

13

I hadn’t seen Reece in a while. I’d pass by her house every day, and I seriously considered knocking on the door and talking to her. I stared at my phone every night, wondering if I should call her, or text her. The day after I stormed out, she left twenty messages all along the lines of “I’m sorry, I don’t remember, but I’m sorry.’ I had rolled my eyes at them. Now I missed hearing from her.

What I didn’t understand was how she was acting like such a victim. She was at fault here, not me. I thought back to what she said the night I asked her out, ‘either you love me and you choose me or you cheat on me and lose me.’ I made it clear that it applied to me too. Reece couldn’t just hide out and pretend like I was the one that was attacking her. Why did I have to apologize? Reece was the one that cheated on me!

I finally got my shit together and went over to Reece’s house. There were police cars outside the front door. They were about to knock on the door. Maverick opened it. I ran over. “What’s going on?” Maverick asked.

The officer consulted his clipboard. “Are you the legal guardian of Reece Hale?” he asked. I stood next to Maverick.

“Yah, I am, where is she?” he asked, his voice full of concern.

“What do you mean ‘where is she’?” I demanded.

“Son, I don’t see how that’s any of your concern,” the second officer said to me.

“Yes it is! I’m her boyfriend!” I said, getting more worried. Where the hell was Reece?

“Are you still?” Maverick asked. I stared at him, bug eyed. “Where is Reece?”

“Can we come inside?” The officers asked. Maverick invited them inside graciously. He stopped me. “You can’t come in,” he said.

“Tell me what’s going on!” I said, feeling like a stubborn little kid. Maverick put his hand on my chest. “Usually I wouldn’t give a fuck about what Reece does, but all she’s done for the past few weeks is cry in her room about you and how she would beg you to take her back. Reece doesn’t cry, and anyone who makes her isn’t worth her time.”

“Maverick, please,” I said, feeling terrible. “I need to know. I love her.”

“Someone needs to tell her that. She thinks you hate her, so she took off,” Maverick said.

“Where?” I asked. Maverick shrugged. “She texted to say that she was in Nevada and I haven’t heard from her since. And if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to these officers.”

“Maverick,” I said, about ready to give up. I couldn’t beg any more. I had been to hell and back with Reece, I needed to know where she was. He grudgingly let me in.

“Sorry for the wait, officers,” he said, taking a seat. I was too stressed to sit. I stood in the corner nervously tapping my foot.

“We found Reece a few days ago,” one of them started. “There was a drunk driving accident, and we pulled Reece out of the wreck.”

“What?” I interrupted.

“A car slammed into her head on,” he repeated. “It’s remarkable that she survived.”

My heart raced. I was sure it was about to pop right out my chest. “Is she okay? Where is she? Is this even the right Reece Hale?”

“This is her address, isn’t it?” one of them asked. I nodded.

“She’s in the ICU up in North Dakota,” the first officer said. “She’s too fragile to move right now.”

The officers left shortly after. I was pacing in the living room until they left. “We have to go to North Dakota,” I said to Maverick.