Olivia
Two very long days had gone by since the last time Jason and I spoke. I hadn't said a word to him since slamming the door in his face the night we got into the argument over his flirtatious behavior with Mariana. That wasn't to say that he hadn't attempted to reach out to me because he did, several times.
He called and texted and even came to knock on the door only to get sent away by Cassie, who reluctantly did so. She wanted us to talk, but she wasn't going to try and force me. I needed to speak with him on my own time when I'm more calm and willing to listen because right now, it would end in another explosion.
He got the message that I didn't want to talk after trying for a day and a half because I hadn't heard anything from him since he sent a text before leaving for work this morning.
Hey sweetheart. As much as I miss you and want to talk to you, I won't bother you anymore until you're ready to see me. I know I messed up, and I'm sorry that my actions caused you to feel embarrassed or like I have eyes for anyone but you. With everything in me, I'm sorry. You are my other half, my better half. I love you, and I hope you're doing okay.
I couldn't stop reading that message over and over again. It brought tears to my eyes every time, but I was back to being angry with him within moments. Of course, he was telling me all these sweet things after the fact, but he behaved in a way that said something completely different.
He could tell me he loved me and that I was his other half all day, and it wouldn't change what I saw at Cassie's party. It wouldn't change the fact that he was flirting with another woman and letting her touch all over him...and smiling while doing it. It wouldn't change that he never thought to bring me up once while staying after work to "train" her, as he claimed. It wouldn't change the embarrassment that I felt as she laughed and winked at him as she walked away when she realized we were dating.
Before I could reply, those were the memories that crossed my mind and stopped me every time. I wasn't in the mood to get hurt again. I received enough heartbreak to last me a lifetime last year. I need to be happy for once, and if that meant adding some space between Jason and I, then that's what I was going to have to do. I wouldn't allow myself to be the pushover I used to be ever again. It literally almost cost me my life.
"Hey, Liv?" Cassie called out, walking into the living room. She struggled to button her jeans as her belly seemed to protrude more and more by the day. "Do you have any sweats or something that I can borrow...I guess I'm getting to the point of pregnancy where maternity clothes are going to be necessary."
"Yeah, let me grab you a pair. We'll pick some up for you today while we're shopping for the baby."
"I'm dreading it. Maternity clothes are so...bleh." She grimaced, shaking her head.
"No, they make more trendy options now!" I laughed before going into my closet and tossing her a pair of navy sweats.
Cassie caught them with ease and gave me a slight grin. "I guess we'll have to see. I'm looking forward to all the little onesies we're going to pick out."
"Oh gosh, me too. I remember the days we'd walk past baby clothes cooing over them, and now we get to actually buy some."
"I know!" Cassie cheered, slipping into the sweats. "So, have you talked to Jason yet, babes?"
"No," I stated softly, lowering my gaze to the floor. "I don't want to talk to him yet."
"Babes...it's been two days," Cassie stressed, holding up two fingers. "I don't think playing the silent game is going to solve any of your problems with him."
"I know." I sighed, rubbing my face exhaustedly. "I just...I'm not ready to have a conversation with him, Cass. I'm still angry...and when I'm angry, I'm not going to be a good listener, and it's going to make matters worse anyway."
Cassie nodded her head as she understood where I was coming from. "I hear you. I just don't think Jason had any malintent with what he did...after talking to Russ, he just seems clueless about boundaries."
"Yeah...I don't know." My shoulders shrugged as I listened to what she had to say.
"It's the truth, babes. You know I wouldn't lie to you. I'm on your side no matter what, and I agree with you that what Jason did was wrong, but I don't think he knew that at the time. You both need to sit down and have a conversation about what your boundaries and expectations are for one another, especially when it comes to having friendships with people of the opposite sex."
"I hate when you're right." I sulked.
Cassie let out a giggle as she rested a hand on my shoulder. "You should know by now that I'm always right, babes. Now come on, let's go shopping."
We ended up going to so many stores and boutiques, buying way more clothing than any newborn baby could ever need. I mean, he'd grow out of all this stuff in less than three months, but Cassie and I just couldn't stop grabbing things.
"I can't wait to see him wear these." I smiled, pulling out the little tiny Nike shoes I'd gotten him as Cassie plopped down in the passenger's seat.
"Oh, those are adorable babes. He's going to look precious in everything his god mommy got for him!"
"Let's go and get dinner. I'm starving." I insisted, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.
"The baby's craving a Philly sandwich. Let's go to a place that sells those."
"The baby's craving it?" I asked with a laugh.
"Well, duh! When have you ever known me to go out of my way for one? The little one has me craving all types of stuff I never knew I liked."
"Oh please, you've always eaten everything."
Cassie let out a loud laugh as she nodded her head in agreement. "You got me there, ba-Olivia!"
"What?!" I screamed, feeling myself grow panicked at her sudden outburst. I turned my head to look at what her gaze was locked on, and before I could even inhale deep enough to let out a scream, a pickup truck came hurling at us, smashing into the passenger side of my car.
It felt as if we were moving in slow motion as the force from the initial hit radiated through the car and my body. The sound of the metal crunching against the tarp road as the car flipped and then rolled was piercingly loud.
There was a sharp pain in my shoulder as the car came to rest on its hood, holding us trapped upside down. It was hard to see from all the smoke and debris that filled the car after the airbags had gone off. I'd never thought about how hard those damn things would shoot out.
My vision was filled with stars as all the blood in my body rushed to my head. I could feel a warm, thick liquid run down my face, and I winced as I tapped my forehead with my fingers. Scarlet red blood now stained them, and I realized I must have gashed my head open, but oddly enough, at this point, nothing hurt anymore. I was in shock.
However, no amount of shock could have numbed me enough to prepare me for what I saw when I turned my head to check on Cassie. My heart felt as if it had stopped dead in its tracks, and my blood iced over. The sheer panic that rose throughout me was strong enough to cause trimmers.
She dangled there, lifelessly from her seat. The only thing holding her in place was her seatbelt and the dashboard that looked like it caved in on her legs, not allowing her to fall from her spot. The blood...there was so much blood covering her body that I had no clue where it was coming from.
She looked dead.
"Cass!" I screamed, attempting to reach over and shake her, but my arm was tangled in the seatbelt. "Cassandra! Wake up!" I cried, struggling to get loose. "Please wake up!"
The sound of sirens from the rescue vehicles sounded foggy in the background as I fought to keep myself conscious but to no avail. My sight began to slowly tunnel to complete blackness.
Jason
Defeated was the best way I could describe the way I was feeling. The awful wrenching sensation that came the minute I got the door slammed in my face hasn't left, and it has now been two days. I knew I was probably being dramatic...it had only been two days since I'd spoken to Olivia, but for some reason, it felt like it had been a lifetime. It felt like it had been weeks, and I was growing more irritated with myself with each hour that passed for letting this happen.
I sent her a text this morning telling her that I wasn't going to bug her anymore and that I was sorry. I felt lost without hearing her voice, feeling her smooth skin against mine, and smelling the aroma of the sweet, welcoming vanilla scent that wafted from her skin.
"Hey, Jase...still nothing?" Russ asked from behind me.
I spun around to look at him and shook my head. My heart throbbed in my chest as I wondered how much longer I would have to suffer through this. How many days would we go without speaking? A week? A month?
"Nothing yet...Did Cassie mention anything to you?"
"All she said was that Liv is still upset with you, and she'll talk to you when she's ready."
"Well, that helps." I snarked, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. "God knows when that'll fucking be."
"Well, don't get mad at me bro, I tried to tell you." He shrugged, tucking his hands into his pants pockets. "I told you from day one she was flirting with you and that you were too nice."
I glanced up at Russ, shooting him a look. "That's not helping." I spat, shaking my head, although he did, in fact, tell me. He warned me from the very start, but I didn't listen. I was too nice.
"I'm just saying."
"I know I messed up, okay? I-"
"Messed up what?" Mariana interrupted, stepping beside me and nudging my arm with her elbow.
"Would you stop that shit? I'm not in the mood." I spat, sending her a glare as she held her hands up in surrender. I didn't mean to snap at her like that. I just had no patience left.
"Whoa, what's stuck up your ass, Boyd?"
"It's nothing, Garcia, I'm-" I started to apologize but was cut off by the alarm going off, dispatching us to an MVA with extrication needed.
"Saved by the bell..." Russ joked. "Let's go!"
"There it is." Russ signed as we peered over at the horrific accident before us.
It looked like a pick-up truck vs. a small sedan, and both cars were utterly ruined. The sedan was sitting on its hood. One other fire crew was already working on extricating the people inside, but they didn't have the proper tools to finish...hence why we were dispatched.
I looked a little harder at the white sedan, though mangled and tarnished, which looked worryingly familiar to me. It was a Volkswagen Jetta, the same kind of car that Olivia drove. There were thousands of Jetta's out there, though, so the chances of it being her were slim to none but just seeing it there...so destroyed like that sent an eerie feeling throughout me.
"Boyd, get the jaws and meet me at the sedan to assist." The lieutenant ordered as we both hopped off the truck.
I responded with a firm nod and collected the heavy tool from the side compartment of the truck. Russ had grabbed another set of tools and went to assist the driver of the pick-up truck.
As I headed over to meet the crew at the turned-over sedan, the lieutenant walked up to me, taking the jaws out of my hands. My brows pulled together in confusion because I thought he wanted me to do it. I was usually the one to lead using the jaws in a heavy extraction like this.
"Boyd, maybe go and assist the pick-up rescue..." The captain ordered as he and the lieutenant shared a quick glance between each other.
I pulled my brows together in confusion as I glanced over at the pick-up. The man had been pulled out and laid onto a stretcher. "Uh, it looks like they have it covered. I'll help you guys."
"Hey Cap, where do you want me now?" Russ asked, stopping beside me.
"Both of you, I need you to sit this one out. We've got it covered."
Russ and I looked at each other for a moment. Why the hell wouldn't they need either of us working on such a major accident?
"Go get the refusal paperwork done for the passenger of the pick-up...they don't want to be transported."
"Okay..." I trailed off, adjusting my bunker coat.
Just as I turned to walk away with Russ, a piercing, blood-curdling scream stopped us both dead in our tracks. It was so loud, so shockingly unbearable, that nearly everyone had turned to look at what was going on inside the turned-over Jetta.
I watched as they pulled the driver out of the car after removing the door. It looked like it was a woman...she wore grey Adidas running shoes...shoes that looked extremely familiar to me.
There were two types of shoes that my girlfriend always wore out of the thousands that she seemed to own. Her grey sneakers or her black slides.
Not only was this the same car that Olivia drove, but the victim inside also wore the shoes she was always in. My blood felt as if it had iced over as the world seemed to just slow down as the woman was slid out of the car. I went completely numb. My heartfelt as if it had stopped in my chest as I could no longer feel it beating. The large tool that I was holding in my hand fell to the ground causing a loud noise to echo throughout the scene at the metal and concrete met.
"I-is that-" Russ started but was cut short by Cassie being rushed away from the car and right past us. Chest compressions were being done on her as she was loaded into the ambulance.
In a flash, Russ was by her side in the back of the medic truck as the doors shut, rushing them away to the hospital. I didn't even know how to comprehend the sight in front of me. I didn't know how to move my feet to walk anymore.
That was until I fully saw her...saw her being rushed away to the other medic truck right past me. She was awake...covered in blood but awake...alive. It was as if all my senses had come back to me as she called out my name, extending her hand out to me pleadingly.
Without waiting for another second, my hand grabbed onto hers tightly as we got her loaded into the back of the ambulance. She had a large gash on her brow bone that one of the paramedics worked on getting cleaned up and covered as she winced in pain.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart, I'm so sorry this happened," I whispered, stroking the back of her hand with my thumb.
She parted her lips to speak but unable to form words. She broke out into sobs. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach, listening to her cries. I felt absolutely helpless...I didn't know how to make this better. I didn't know how to make what she had just endured any more bearable.
"Cassie..." She choked out, gripping onto my hand even harder. "She was dead, Jason...I-I heard them say she had no pulse, no nothing."
"Listen to me, they're going to get her back okay...they have to." I tried assuring her, nodding my head as if I was also trying to assure myself. "She's so strong. You're both so strong, baby."
"T-that truck...he came out of nowhere, he wasn't supposed to go into the intersection...I don't get why that h-had to happen."
"I know, sweetheart, I know. I'm right here with you, though, okay? I'm right here."
Olivia looked up at me with her honey brown eyes, glossed over with tears before nodding and relaxing on the stretcher.
"What hurts?" I asked, leaning over her and examining her body.
"My head a-and my shoulder."
Deeply frowning, I brushed my thumb gently over her cheek before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "We're going to get you all better, okay? I promise...I'm so sorry." My voice cracked as I watched her tears fall relentlessly.
Seeing her in pain was gut-wrenching. I wanted nothing more than to just switch places with her, take her pain away.
"I love you too, Jason." She whispered as my brows furrowed in confusion. "The message you sent this morning...I should have told you...I love you too."
"Shh, don't worry about that, okay? I know you do." I promised her, feeling tears brim my own eyes. "It's going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay."
A/N: Kind of a heavy chapter for the characters. Poor Cassie might have just gotten written off...
I also hope the sudden POV change wasn't off-putting. It just felt like it was necessary here.
See y'all next update!