• chapter thirty •
The crash was loud enough to be heard over the music coming through the earphones. Zack yanked the earpods out, wrapped them around his phone and turned his head. Across the road, a broken cab lay crashed into the wall. People were rushing towards it. Subconsciously, his fingers dialled 911 as he ran towards the cab. He spoke his address into the phone and then peered inside. His gaze landed on a very familiar brunette. "Hazel?"
His heart stopped beating for a moment. Then he stood up and ran all the way back to their building, told Liam and Ash what had happened. They dropped everything and ran back together.
There was a huge weight on Liam's chest; it felt as if his ribcage was being crushed and the splintered bone pieces were stabbing his heart. Maybe Zack had seen someone else. Zack definitely saw someone else. Zack didn't see Hazel. It wasn't Hazel. Hazel didn't even take money for the cab. She was walking on foot, wasn't she?
Wasn't she?
He could see the cab now. There were red sirens everywhere, deafening him; they blinded him and paralyzed him with fear. Why were there so many ambulances? Was it very serious?
He saw her being lifted out. "No! Hazel!" Ash screamed.
She was unconscious, covered in blood. He reached her, stroked her cheek, then her hair, without caring about the fact that he was getting blood on his hands. "This is all my fault." If only he hadn't said all those cruel things to her, she wouldn't have gone out, she wouldn't have got hurt.
"She'll be okay," the nurse said, before putting the stretcher into the ambulance. They drove away. His knees gave way. Zack caught him before he could completely fall. "Ash, get the car," he said, and Ash ran off. "Calm down, man. Nothing's wrong with her. She'll be fine. We're going to drive to the hospital."
Liam barely noticed the drive. One second ago he was on the road, kneeling, with Zack supporting him, and the next thing he remembered, Ash was clicking her fingers in front of his eyes. "Liam? Get out of the car!"
He was out in an instant. Zack took care of the paperwork; Ash held his hand as he sat on the cold, metal bench outside her room. Wild thoughts were forcing themselves into his brain: what if she didn't make it?
Time crept by. Hours and hours passed, but each time he looked up at the black wall clock, the minute hand had moved forward by only a couple of centimeters. When could he see her again? He tapped his foot against the floor. He drummed his fingers on his knees; adjusted his hair several times. A doctor was walking down the passage. He stopped in front of them. "The driver is okay, and he's conscious. If you'd like to talk to him, you may." Ash thanked him. With a polite smile, he left.
Liam got up. "I'm going to talk to the driver." She nodded.
He was lying quietly on his bed, hands folded over his stomach, staring up at the ceiling. He looked at the door as soon as he heard it open.
"Hey," Liam said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Kind of." There were a few scratches on his face; a stitched cut stretched across his forearm. "Sorry, but who are you?"
"I'm Hazel's boyfriend. Fiancé now, actually. The girl who was in your cab," he added, seeing the confusion on the driver's face.
"Ah." The driver nodded.
"What happened?"
The driver shrugged. "I really have no clue. I lost control over the car. It was like, my hands were on the steering, but it turned on its own. I didn't do it. Like maybe something had pulled the wheel. I tried to stop it from turning, but the skin of my hands got chafed." He overturned his hands. The skin had peeled slightly. "I don't know what happened. Maybe something was wrong with the car. But I don't think so. Do you believe in evil supernatural forces?"
"I guess I do." His mind started racing.
"It felt like a supernatural force was controlling it. I wasn't wearing a cross today. I knew today would be a bad day."
Liam was lost in thought.
"How is your girl?" the driver inquired.
"I don't know yet. I haven't seen her since I came here." He stood up. "Thanks for your time." They smiled at each other. The expression felt foreign on Liam's face, as if he'd already spent a century without smiling. At least, that was what it felt like.
Some supernatural force was controlling the car...
He took his place on the bench next to Ash again. He hopefully looked up at every doctor that passed him by, but no one stopped to tell him anything. Night was falling when Hazel's doctor came out of her room. Liam jumped up. "How is she, sir?"
The doctor smiled. "She's alright. It's nothing serious. The baby wasn't harmed either; we did an ultrasound. We've given her a small amount of morphine so she's asleep, but I don't know when that will wear off. She'll wake up when it does. I hope that's tomorrow."
Liam breathed a sigh of relief.
"You can relax. It will be okay. We'll let you talk to her when you wake up."
Liam nodded. "Thank you."
The doctor walked on. Liam watched his silhouette become smaller and smaller as he walked down the passage. They sat again. "Thank God," he heard Ash mutter. He was holding his head in his hands, fingers twisted into his hair. The perfect solution to all their problems was suddenly brewing in his mind.
Zack returned from the washroom, or from wherever he had gone to. He vaguely heard Ash tell him everything, and looked up only when Zack patted his cheek. "What?" he asked.
"We should go home, bud. You need rest. We'll come again tomorrow."
Liam snorted. "There is no way I'm going home without her. I'm fine."
"You're clearly not," Ash interrupted. "Liam, we'll come here early in the morning, before anyone wakes up. I promise."
"You haven't even eaten anything since you came here. You skipped lunch. And it is cold too. You can't go on like this."
"How can I go home and sleep when I know she's here? She'll wake up when her morphine wears off. What if she wakes up at night and asks for me, and I'm not here?" His voice cracked with emotion as he thought of that.
Zack started to argue, but Ash touched his arm, and he closed his mouth. To Liam, she said, "Do you want to stay here for tonight? Will you sleep on the bench?"
"I will," he said adamantly.
"Okay then. We're gonna sleep in the car outside, you can call us if you need anything, okay?"
"It's October; you can't sleep in the car. It will be cold. You should go home."
"No, we —"
"You guys can bring some food and fresh clothes for me tomorrow, right?" He put his apartment keys in Zack's palm and closed his fingers around them. "Go. I'll be fine."
They gave in and left. The solution he had in mind sounded more and more sensible to him as time passed. He should have done it before.
He spent the night tossing and turning on the metal bench. At one point, he fell off and woke up on the floor, then decided the floor was a much better place than the bench and dozed off again. It was early morning when he was woken up by a nurse. His entire body was aching from the cramps and his brain was hurting from the stress of it all. "Mm?" he mumbled, still on the floor.
"Your girlfriend has woken up. She's asking for you."
∞
When I opened my eyes dawn was breaking, and I was exhausted, like the energy had been drained out of me. My head was pounding. I moved my arms, and a sharp pain stung my left one, which was wrapped in a plaster. I groaned. A sense of déjà vu prevailed. I had been in hospital before, in a similar condition. It brought back bitter memories of that period when I thought I'd lost everything, so I tried to push them away.
I remembered what had happened. I remembered the accident, I'd had lots of dreams about it while I'd been asleep.
A blond nurse with smooth milky skin rushed to me, looked at me anxiously. "You're awake? How do you feel?"
"Chill, I'm good." And then all at once, I realized the cause of her worry. "My baby!" I almost screamed. Was he okay? Or had I had a miscarriage? Please, no. Horrible thoughts started flashing in my mind.
"Your baby is okay," she said. "We did an ultrasound. Your friend Zack had told us that you're one month pregnant."
I grabbed her hand. "Thank God!" I sighed. I felt the tension leave my body. "Thank God. Thank God."
She wiped the sweat on my face. "Everything's fine. It's a miracle, really. Something cushioned your stomach during the crash. Are you hungry? I'll get some soup for you."
"That sounds great," I said. She stood up to leave. "Um... is anyone waiting outside, by the way?"
She smiled. "Of course. Your boyfriend is here. I'll get him."
My bed was next to a big window, so I looked out at the buildings silhouetted against the light of the rising sun. The horizon was pink. The door opened. "Hazelnut?"
I turned my head as much as I could and saw Liam walking towards me. He pulled a chair next to the bed, took my frail hand and kissed the palm. I saw him blink rapidly as he ran his eyes over all the bandages and dressings on my wounds. He kissed my lips. "I'm so sorry about what I said, Hazel. I was really angry, and I barked nonsense like a complete asshole." He drew in a shaky breath.
That reminded me of the fact that I was angry at him. "I'm still angry," I said, even though I didn't mean it. I only said it because I was supposed to be angry.
He lay his head on my shoulder, taking care to not let his complete weight rest on me. "I love you. Can we just forget about it all and be normal?"
I said nothing.
He stroked my stomach. "Dylan is okay, the doctor told me."
"Isaac," I said; then, "why did you just assume it's a boy?"
"I have a feeling it's a boy."
I let my fingers trail over the features of his face. He kissed them, then kissed my lips, then started kissing any patch of unwounded skin he could find. That, and his hair, tickled me. I giggled with happiness, causing him to smile, too. "I'm so sorry, babe. I love you," he said again.
"Kiss me," I ordered, because it felt nice, because it was the only good sensation in my hurting body. He did, slowly, softly, and I cherished it, and when we finished, I said, "I'm still angry."
"Yeah, of course you are." The sarcasm in his voice made me laugh loudly—which pained even more—but I wore my angry mask again and went back to ignoring him. Even breathing hurt. "Anyway, I don't care," he said. "I'm going to kiss you as much as I want to, and you can't stop me."
The door opened as he was bending over me, and Zack and Ash came in with the nurse, who was holding a bowl of soup on a tray. They both kissed my cheek. "How are you feeling?" Ash asked worriedly. They both looked like they hadn't slept much last night. Their eyes were red.
"I'm good. I'm feeling normal. As normal as one can after an accident," I added, trying to make them smile. They did, and they sat down next to me and chatted for some time about random stuff while I ate my soup. Liam sat quietly, his lips pursed, not speaking.
The nurse then decided that I needed rest. Ash and Zack said that they would be in their car to catch up on their sleep. Liam lingered on. He wordlessly took my hand when we were alone. I wriggled my fingers, reaching out to him, and he understood: he held my hand against his cheek. I finally let go of my temper. I didn't even want to be angry. "It's not like I don't have anyone else apart from you, okay? I have Sharon and Sana and—"
"Hazel, I didn't mean it."
"— and I have my mom too. She cares about me. I also have Ash and Zack, though I know they love you more than they love me. And even if I don't have anyone else, I can live alone. I've been alone for most of my life. I don't need anyone to survive. I'm not with you because I don't have anyone else. I'm with you because I love you. I'm not with you because I need you, it's because I want you. I might not have a lot of people who care about me, but I'm happy with those I have. Don't take me for granted."
"I don't take you for granted. I'm grateful to have you. I love you."
"I love you too," I answered sleepily.
"She really needs to rest," called the nurse from outside the room. Liam gave me a final kiss.
"Liam?" He had just reached the doorway.
"Yeah?" he answered with a small smile.
"Why were you trying so hard to make up? Didn't you want to keep fighting?" I teased.
He took a while to answer. "My mom's death taught me that we should always leave a loved one with kind words. It could be the last time we see them."
"I'm not going to die."
He exhaled a long breath. "I hope not, love." And with that, he left the room.
∞