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“Hey, Brooke,” I said.
Damon looked at me curiously.I just shrugged my shoulders, unsure myself as to why she was calling me.
“Colt, it’s Scarlet.There’s been an accident.”That was all I needed to hear.
I was on auto-pilot at that point, like a shell of myself just moving about, getting up, grabbing my keys from the table, leaving the garage, getting into my car, watching Damon get in the passenger seat, and starting the car.It happened so fast and yet not fast enough.
I could tell he had no idea what was going on, but he wasn’t getting left behind and thank God for that because I needed him.Taking my phone from me, Damon started talking to Brooke.I could barely hear, let alone talk—it was like I’d gone into shock.Scarlet had so quickly become my everything and there was no way I could handle if something happened to her.
I only wished I knew what happened exactly, but Brooke didn’t have any of those answers as far as I knew.I just didn’t understand how this could’ve happened.Scarlet was going to the doctor, she was supposed to be home soon.I was going on my job interview, going home, and cooking for Scarlet.I was going to ask her what was really going on this morning.Now I couldn’t give a shit less about what she was hiding.I just needed to make sure she was okay.That she was never going to scare me like this ever again, because that’s all this would be—a scare.It couldn’t be more than that.
Finally, I heard Damon say, “Okay, we’re not far from that hospital now.We should be there any minute.”
When he hung up, I nearly grabbed the collar of his shirt and begged him to tell me everything he knew.But I remained calm and let him talk.“Colt, it’s going to be okay.”
Not what I wanted him to say.“What the hell is it, Damon?”
He took a deep breath.“All Brooke knows is there was a car accident and Scarlet got hit.”
“Her side?”
“I have no idea,” he answered without hesitation.
“Son of a bitch!”
“Brooke is her emergency contact, so they called her when she got admitted.”
As long as they called someone, I really didn’t care who it was.
“Colt, she was unconscious when they found her.She lost a lot of blood.”
“And the other driver?”
“I have no idea right now.It’s too soon for those answers,” he explained, trying to appeal to my rational side but I was anything but rational right now.
I blew outwardly.“Why the hell does everyone seem to drive slower when I need to get somewhere?”
“Maybe her accident can be a reminder to you to slow down,” Damon suggested.
My mind began racing, going back to the other time I felt this helpless.It was when Damon was injured.When my mother told me that he had been sent to a hospital in Germany, had a brain injury, and that I needed to come home.The Army let me out for a family emergency, but I wasn’t let out for long enough.
They flew him from Germany to a hospital in Miami, where he was getting the best treatment.But it wasn’t enough, because the doctors didn’t know if he would live longer than a few months.He was put in an induced coma to relieve the swelling on his brain.I just remembered the doctors saying how sorry they were.The amount of gifts in Damon’s room was overwhelming, too.At one point, I couldn’t even make my way into his room, just sat on the floor outside of it, crying.I didn’t know what was going to happen and my entire family was in disarray.It was one of the worst moments of our collective lives, but right now this one was fast competing for that title in my life.
“Colt, you have to find a spot,” Damon told me, waking me from my reverie.
“There are none.”
“You just passed like eight.”
I came to a stop behind a Buick and punched the steering wheel.When I got over my shit I continued circling the lot to claim one of the spots I had missed.I could’ve screamed.“Damn it, Damon.I should’ve driven her.”
“You can’t rewrite history, man,” he said in an effort to calm me.
But it failed.“I would’ve been there.”
“You would’ve been in the car and you might very well be in the hospital right now with her, which is no good to her.So let’s just go in and see what’s up.”
“At least she wouldn’t have been alone.”
