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“Save…her…:” my mother choked out. Or at least that was what I thought she said. It was hard to hear her above the thunder roar and the heavy rain pounding.
Nate pulled harder on the door until it finally opened. My body was still stone, and my hand was safely clutched in my mother’s.
I wanted to move closer to hear what they were saying, but I was still held captive in my place.
She choked a few words, which Nate nodded to before he took me into his arms. He pulled me out of the car and hobbled his way away from the vehicle.
He had gone a few feet when a loud boom threw us to the ground as the car caught fire. Nate used his arms to break my fall and covered me with his body. He let out a low hiss, his skin brushing against the tar of the road.
I looked up to see the car I had been in only seconds prior come ablaze with my mother still in it. The flames proliferated, effectively engulfing her. I had expected to hear screaming, but there was nothing that came.
Had she died before the flames had consumed her? Was her body not in any pain?
Was this what had happened?
All these questions circled my mind, but I knew that no one could give me the answers.
I had imagined she had died on impact and felt no pain, but this….knowing that there was a possibility that she had suffered so terribly shattered me.
I heard a little groan and looked at where Nate and I were. My little body squirmed under him, a soft and low whimper coming from my lips.
“You’re okay,” he whispered.
The sound of sirens filled the air. The red and white flashes come in the far distance.
Nate’s body relaxed a little, his attention moving back to me. “You’re okay. Help is coming.”
He then looked over his shoulder to where his mother lay. “Hold on, Mom. Hold on.”
It was the desperate prayer of a terrified son. I could feel the pain and fear that had engulfed him.
The scene before me began to fade away slowly. The pieces of the accidents disappeared until the only thing left was me in the darkness.
Watching it all play out this way made every sealed wound reopen.
My knees slowly gave out, and my body tumbled to the floor. I braced myself with my hands as I tried to control my breathing.
He had carried this weight with him all this time like I had taken my grief. Our scars were similar in shape, but the blade that had made each one differed.
“Oh, Nate.” My heart bled for him, and my soul mourned for the boy that died that day.
I watched the light dimming from his eyes as tears streamed down his face.
The world had been cruel to him and marked him with a dark cloud. And it pained me that I was a stark reminder of all that he had lost that day—all that we had lost.
32
NATHANIEL
The gentle beating of the machine filled the room. My hand was clutched in hers tightly, hoping to feel a twitch or any pressure.
She had been like this for hours, and the doctor had said there was nothing to worry about, but how could I not worry?
A baby.
My throat tightened at the thought of our little one growing inside her. The times she had been sick and weak. She hadn’t been fighting off some virus; she had been with child—our child.
I brought her hand to my lips, kissing it back and closing my eyes.
