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“I know you’re here and you’re obviously okay, but, Erik, I need you to get to the end of this story quicker because I’m stressing the fuck out right now.”
She gave him a breathy laugh that was less humor, more an attempt to mask a sob.
He tightened his grip.
“I kept calling out Troy’s name, but he never answered. I started to worry that maybe he was dead, and panic set in, hard. We were upside down in a ditch, with the rain pounding outside. I kept imagining the water was rising and I was terrified I’d drown. A couple of cars passed, but I guess they couldn’t see us.”
“I can’t even imagine how scared you must have been.”
“It was bad,” she admitted. “So I did what most people in life or death situations do. I started making deals with fate, God, Buddha, whoever I thought might be listening, promising to change my ways. I swore I’d be a good daughter, that I’d get good grades, and that I’d dedicate my life to saving others if only I could live.”
“Erik,” Blake said softly, tilting her face so that she was looking at him. He was moved by her story and her commitment. She’d made a deal with some unseen force, and she kept her promise. It was all just so…her. “You stuck by your vow.”
“I had to. Because after an hour or so, someone drove by, and they did see us. They called 9-1-1, and soon we were surrounded by first responders. Even with help there, we were still trapped and the water was rising. The firefighters had to use the jaws of life to cut us out of the car.” She stopped, taking several labored breaths.
Blake placed a kiss on the side of her head. “I understand now why you’re so afraid of thunderstorms.”
“And tight spaces,” she added. “My claustrophobia is no joke.”
“What happened after they got you out of the car?”
“We were transported to the hospital.”
“Troy was alive?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes, but he spent a couple of nights in ICU. Broke his arm in three places and his femur.”
Blake winced.
“He also hit his head hard and there was swelling of the brain.”
“What about you?” Blake asked.
“I was very lucky. I had a minor concussion and hellacious bruising, especially on my chest and shoulder from the seat belt, but I was treated and released that night.”
“Your parents must have been out of their minds,” he observed.
Erika went quiet for a moment, nodding slowly. “I heard my mom talking to one of the cops in the ER. She said they didn’t even realize I wasn’t in my room.”
Blake recalled the night Erika told him about Sara dying, about her mother saying the same thing. He was beginning to understand why Sara’s passing had hit her so hard.
Blake stroked her hair. “Were they angry?”
“Honestly? No. My mom did her usual protective momma bear thing, getting a list of dos and don’ts from the nurses and doctors in terms of how to take care of me…while my dad didn’t say a word. He just stepped next to the hospital bed and pulled me into his arms, hugging me for the longest time, while I cried and apologized and promised I would never disobey them again.”
“Given the fact you’re a doctor, I’d say you turned over a new leaf.”
She lifted her head. “I walked away from the bad-influence friends, broke up with Troy, got straight A’s every semester after that, and started taking the path that would lead me to medical school.”
“You’re amazing.”
Erika narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “No. I’m not. I made a bad decision, and I almost paid for it with my life. I thought I’d turned things around, and I was okay with what had happened that night, but then…” She swallowed heavily. “Sara.” Her voice broke on the other girl’s name.
Blake understood. “She didn’t get the chance to turn things around.”
Quiet tears slid down Erika’s cheeks. “She fell for the wrong boy and made one stupid split-second decision—just like I did when I got into Troy’s car. I can’t understand why she died when I lived.”
“Life doesn’t play fair, Erik. It’s a roll of the dice.”
