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Chapter one
Jar Of Dirt
Sitting at the hospital hours later, both Olivia and Vanessa were passed out against each other in exhaustion. Mary and Beth thoughtfully brought a change of clothes for each of them, and they were currently lying under heated hospital blankets, but the comfort of the heat only went so far.
However, the artificial warmth would never be enough to chase away the chill that had settled so bone deep that the four of them would not be able to welcome the feeling of the sun back into their life after what happened that night.
The sun was gone.
Vanessa had her head in Olivia’s lap, and Olivia had her head tilted back and on Colins’ shoulder. Colin still stared numbly.
He startled as Jonathan’s voice penetrated his musing. He swallowed back bile for the umpteenth time, feeling sick.
“Bro, that wasn’t your fault. You had a cover on the pool. It was an accident. I’m contacting the company and suing for negligence first thing tomorrow. I’ll handle this for you.” Jonathan’s warm voice drifted over him, and Colin felt his eyes burning with unshed tears.He looked over at his friend slowly, knowing his face was an impenetrable stricken mask he couldn't crack for the life of him.
Maybe that was the problem. There was no life, as well as no sun.
“Jonathan. If I hadn’t been so persistent, if I hadn’t pressed so hard…none of this would have happened,” he lamented, his voice deepened with grief and terror for Allison.
The doctor suddenly appeared around the corner, wearily. His mouth was pulled tight, his face was pale, and what was left of any vestige of hope snuffed out like a flame that even Olivia’s aura couldn’t bring back. He groaned, a pained sound, putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, crying proper now.
Jonathan put his hand on the back of his neck, his face just as stricken.
“She’s stable,” the doctor said wearily, his elderly features standing out in sharp contrast in his face.
Colin’s breath hitched in shock as he looked up in disbelief. Jonathan’s hand squeezed his neck hard before letting go.
“But we’ll need to observe her for a while just to make sure. There’s still a chance for dry drowning and other complications,” the older man said wearily. Jonathan leaned over and shook the women awake as Colin stood slowly.
“What did you just say, doctor?” Colin asked. His voice sounded hollow to him, feeling the embers of his heart flickering shallowly, not quite wanting to ignite.
“She’s stable, son.” The doctor now turned to the women, who were both sitting up and blinking the sleep out of their eyes. “We need to keep her for a few days to monitor her brain activity, though. Who’s her mother?” he asked, glancing between the two of them, not able to tell with their red hair.
The medical team had informed the doctor that Olivia was the one doing CPR and was in the ambulance. They had to give her a sedative because she wouldn’t leave her side for them to work on Allison. She’d been too frantic.
Vanessa said quietly that she was, and the doctor pulled her to the side to speak with her alone.
Olivia looked up slowly in shock, her red hair fell in her face as she slid off her chair to her knees, sobbing. Colin walked over to her and got down on his own knees, pulling her into him, cradling her head to his chest. They were all so exhausted and emotions were running high. He gulped relieved breaths, his frozen heart suddenly beating into overdrive.
“Olivia, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, baby. Please forgive me,” he bit out against her temple, his voice hoarse as he squeezed her hard against him.
Olivia shuddered in his arms; suddenly spent as she took comfort from him.
The doctor and Vanessa walked back over to them. She crouched down and silently put her arms around Olivia and Colin before placing a kiss on Olivia’s head.
The doctor, who was still standing next to them, spoke again.“If you hadn’t jumped in there and got to her when you did, tonight would have been a different story. I was told that you jumped off a balcony to save her. Those precious seconds meant everything. Good job, you did well.” The doctor tilted his head at them in respect, and walked away.His weary countenance betraying just how close they all came to a very different outcome this night.
***
They stayed at the hospital for three days, Colin and Jonathan getting them takeout, as no one wanted hospital food. Allison’s room was bursting to the seams with flowers, balloons and stuffed animals. So much so, they started handing them off to other patients on the floor and leaving the flowers in various nursing stations. On the evening of the third day, they discharged Allison and they were able to go home.
Allison proved to be a very resilient child, bouncing back in almost no time. Olivia and Colin temporarily stayed at Vanessa’s home with her and Jonathan, who seemed to have moved in with them, abandoning his mansion. Mary stopped by a few times, bringing dinner, and wanting to see Allison for herself as she’d grown very fond of the little girl.
Allison terrorized her mother with temper tantrum requests to see her friends, making everyone’s life a living hell being stuck in the house with her so much so that Olivia decided it would be best for them to go back to their home and let her life go back to normal.
They'd come home one weeknight evening the second week of December, as the snow blanketed the property, seeing the house beautifully decorated for Christmas. The sight left her speechless, tears in her eyes. She’d been feeling so down, spending the last couple of weeks trying to repair her relationship with her sister. They’d listened to Jonathan’s suggestions to go to therapy, having made an appointment to begin after the holidays.
They tried to bounce back from the fight, all of them feeling guilty in one way or another for the events that led up to Allison’s accident.
