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“I should have known there was something wrong,” Ollie says, shaking his head. “Can’t believe I got carried away by sex.”
“She wanted us distracted while she planned to leave,” Artie says. He looks at me. He knows exactly what Susan was thinking.
My heart pounds in my chest as we rush out the door, hoping to catch a glimpse of Susan, a sign that she’s still within reach. The frigid air bites at my skin, adding to the restlessness that courses through my veins. Ollie and Artie flank me, my determination mirrored in their eyes.
We scan the surroundings, our gazes darting from one empty space to another, searching for any trace of Susan’s presence. But all we find is the stillness of the empty road down the mountain, devoid of any sign of her. The realization hits me like a punch to the gut—Susan is truly gone.
My eyes dart toward the empty space where her rental car once stood. It’s now a vacant void, a reminder of her absence.
“Where could she have gone?” Ollie’s voice breaks the silence.
“Probably back to New York,” I guess.
“Do you think she’ll make the drive safely?” Artie asks.
“The roads have cleared. She’s had an hour of head start on us, maybe more. We’ll never catch up.”
“She fucked us to sleep and just left,” Ollie says, shaking his head. “That doesn’t sound like her at all.”
“Maybe we drove her to it,” I say.
“Why leave like that? Why not talk to us about it?” Artie says. “We could have fixed everything.”
“Maybe she’s just burdened by everything that happened,” Ollie says.
I shake my head. “That’s not true.”
Ollie frowns. “What do you mean?”
Before I can answer, Artie holds up a finger. “I’ll call her. Maybe I can get through to her.” A few moments pass, and Artie drops his phone, dejected. “She didn’t pick up, and the number is not reachable anymore,” he says. “I don’t think she wants to talk to us.”
“Maybe she’s just out for a breath of fresh air,” I say. Even to my ears, the words sound hollow.
“With all her clothes?” Artie says.
I scowl at him. “I’m just trying to reason here.”
“Well, it’s no fucking use,” Ollie says. He’s fuming. I’m supposed to feel angry too, but I don’t. It’s like Susan has taken everything with her departure.
“Come on, let’s go inside. Sulking here isn’t going to help anyone,” Artie says. “If Susan isn’t going to talk to us, we’re going to find other ways to find her and make her talk.”
Ollie curses under his breath. “This isn’t fair. What made her make this decision?”
“It might have been because of my insensitive comment,” I say. When I found out the baby was no longer in the scene, all I felt was relief. But that lasted only for a second before the feeling of loss overwhelmed me. I didn’t even realize how much I wanted the baby till it was gone.
“What?” Ollie says.
“Maybe she thought I was relieved and even happy that she lost the baby,” I say.
“Ed, that’s fucked-up, even for you,” Ollie says, shaking his head.
I frown. “I don’t actually feel like that. Not anymore. The worst part is that I’d actually gotten used to taking her to the doctor’s appointments. In fact, I looked forward to it,” I say.
“We were due for the first scan next week,” Ollie says, looking out the window. “We could have seen our baby—” His voice chokes at the end.
“It’s so unfair,” Artie says. “I wish she would have just talked to us. I’m sure we could have figured out a way through it.”
“I pushed her away,” I say, covering my face with my hands. All I can feel is shame. “In the initial days, all I could think of was getting rid of the baby, how it was ruining everything, and now—” Artie pats me awkwardly on my shoulder. “What about the crib we were building? I know it’s wrong to fixate on that right now, but I don’t know what else to focus on,” I continue.
