Hey, guys. This chapter will be a bit short-I'm in a hurry. Enjoy!
On my way home from the building, I got a call from an unknown number. I flipped my phone open to hear a man's voice, very deep and dark. "Ms. Chase?" The man said quizzically. Why was he calling me Ms. when I was married? Why was he calling me by my maiden name? Percy and I have been married for 13 years… "This is she…" I replied, half occupied by taking off my sweaty gloves. "My name is Andrew Walker. I'm afraid that we have some bad news," he said, waiting for me to confirm what he had said. Suddenly, there was a pain in my chest. It was a stinging, searing pain tugging at my stomach. Immediately, I thought of Percy and our children. "What? What happened?" I choked out. "Your husband and children have-" Andrew's voice faltered. "Your husband and your children have been in a fatal car wreck."
I dropped to my knees. I should have known! I should have stayed! I ignored the voices inside my head and left anyways. If I had stayed, Percy and our children would be alive right now! I threw the phone down hard on the gravel and sobbed into my hands. My sobs racked my body to the brink where I couldn't breathe unless I calmed down. I refused to let the endless flow of tears stop. My Seaweed Brain. Is he really gone?
To answer that question, I have to get up, and I have to go home. I half-heartedly walked back to the building and told them all to just stop. To just stop building my dreams. They all wanted to know why, but they knew better then to question me. I asked Lenny for a ride, who was my building contractor, and on the way there he asked me what had happened. He told me that he had seen me drop to my knees and put my head in my hands. "Lenny, I'm sorry. I'm confused and I don't know what is going on with Percy and our kids, apparently they've been in a car crash. I just don't know what's going on so I have to go home and find out." I said, my voice quivering.
Lenny let me out of the car at the airport. On the way to the airport, I had called and arranged a flight to Manhattan on a family friend's private plane. "Thank you, Lenny," I said tearfully, slamming the car door.
I arrive in Manhattan and catch a cab to our townhouse. I run in and find no one there. I walk hurriedly into the kitchen and pick up the house phone, calling Andrew Walker, who had apparently called the house first. "Sir, where are they? Is my husband all right? Where are my children?" I asked frantically, shuffling some papers in the process. I looked deeply at Percy's name, printed on the bill. Perseus Alan Jackson.
"Percy…" I whisper. The whole time I'm remembering his face, Andrew is talking to me. "Ms.? We are at the bottom of the hill on route 72. Please come as soon as possible," he said, and then hung up. The only thing on my mind was Percy right now, along with my children. I had a million questions. Questions for my children, for the police, and questions, especially for Percy.
On my way to the scene, I prayed to Poseidon and to Athena that Percy and my children are alright. My life would be eternally ruined if they were to die. I drove madly, not caring if any cops saw me, if I got in any trouble. I needed to get to Percy's side, and comfort him, just as he did to me everyday.
Slowing down, I spotted a part in the fence that was broken and torn. I turned the car toward the large gap in the fence, and saw a familiar blue mini-van and saw at least 10 cop cars, 3 ambulances and 2 fire trucks. The firemen were spraying water all over the mini-van, and the 3 ambulances were obviously occupied. I slammed on the brakes, and jumped out of the car. I ran as fast as I could down the slippery hill, because it has obviously rained the past few days.
As I ran, I miscalculated my steps and slammed into an officer. He looked at me with serious pity and obvious sadness in his brown eyes. "Ms. Chase…I'm so sorry."
I then turned and got a good look at the van. Its whole front end was smashed in, along with both of the two front tires demolished along with the car. The car doors were ripped off and were no where in sight. The windshield had no glass, just jagged pieces sticking out on the sides. The back end of the car was as well broken up. The back headlights were sliced into a million shiny pieces, and the back windshield was all cracked, looking like it would break any second.
"Where are Percy and my kids?" Andrew sadly pointed to the first ambulance. I jogged over, and looked down to see Brenda lying on the table lifelessly. All the color was drained of her face. Her hands were pale and cold. She was stiff, very stiff. I looked at her beautiful face and noticed that a huge bandage covered her whole forehead. The bandage was soaked in blood. A paramedic came over and put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry," he said, and it was obviously hard for him. "Is she…?" He looked at Brenda and then looked away. "Yes. We tried as best as we could, but a large piece of metal struck through her skull, and she obviously had some brain injuries from the glass," the man said, his voice cracking. "My baby girl…" I said quietly. A single tear rolled down my cheek, and I rested my head on her lifeless stomach. My single tear turned into full blown sobs. "My baby girl…"
After what seemed like an eternity of crying, I lifted my head and looked at Andrew. He avoided my gaze but was staring at another ambulance. Paramedics were swarming around someone; a man was pumping his hand against a body's chest. I rushed over and peeked though two paramedics to find Kalli laying on the gurney, her eyes open in fear and distress. She obviously couldn't breathe because her breath was raspy. She spotted me and weakly reached out. "Momma," she squeaked, then brought her hands to her throat. A machine was beeping loudly, obviously signaling that my baby's death was near. I looked at another machine that showed lines that went up and down. They were becoming straighter and straighter by the second. I pushed my way through the crowd of doctors and medics and to Kalli's side. "Sweetie, it's okay. Mommy's here," I said tearfully. The doctors and medics cleared out with saddened expressions, because they couldn't do anything. They stayed a distance away, leaving me to my little girl. I held her little hand tight, never wanting to let go. "Mommy," she gasped for breath. "Shh. You're going to be alright, baby," I said as calmly as I could, but that was literally impossible when you're witnessing your daughter's death and can't do anything about it.
Kalli looked up at me with her once beautiful sea green eyes, which were now dull with pain and distress. Her breath was getting shallower as she tried to talk. She had minutes left. "I…love…you…mommy. Tell my…siblings and daddy…that…I love them…too," she gasped. Her gasping and raspy voice made my heart completely shatter into pieces, as if it didn't already. "Oh, baby, I love you too. I will tell Daddy and your brothers and sister too." She looked at me with sadness and pleading in her eyes, as if she was trying to say 'help me. Please, please help me.' Tears rolled down her cheeks, as did mine. "It's okay, baby. You can go now. You can let go of all the pain. Just know that I love you and I always will. This is not goodbye, baby," I choked out between racking sobs. Kalli looked at my stomach; she was obviously thinking of the unborn baby, and then back at me. Her eyes slowly closed, and her breathing completely stopped. The rising and falling of her chest stopped. I knew that she was gone.
"Kalli, no! No, no! My baby girl! Stay with me!" I screamed, laying my chest on her and shaking her a bit. I didn't mean for her to go that quickly! I didn't mean 'leave' literally! As soon as the doctors heard my screams, they rushed over and quickly checked Kalli's un-beating pulse and heart. The head paramedic shook her head sadly, and then two different paramedics led me away from my dead daughter, and sat me on a make shift bench. Andrew Walker came up to me and sat beside me. "Annabeth…I'm very sorry," he gave me a sincere frown, and I burst out crying. "It's my fault! If I stayed home, then none of this would've happened!" I yelled.
After a few minutes of crying, again, Andrew was called by one of the paramedics. He came back holding a piece of clothing. Boy's clothing. He hands the piece of plaid fabric to me and I brought it to my nose by impulse because of the years of checking if the boy's clothes were clean or dirty.
I stood up as soon as my nose registered Bryan's scent. "Where is he?" I demand to Andrew. He pointed to one of the ambulances, and I cursed under my breath. As I made my way through the mud and roots and plants, I pictured Bryan's sweet face, and how is black hair shone in the daylight. There were two doctors there, working slowly on packing the machinery up and putting it back in the ambulance. When I approached them and Bryan, they gave me pitiful looks, and I knew what that meant. It meant that he was already gone. I ran to his bedside anyway, and whispered to his lifeless body, "You're gone now, gone but not forgotten. You'll forever be a part of me. You never really left. I know I'll see you again, my precious baby boy."
I looked around the front of the ambulance, and saw all of the doctors around one ambulance, an ambulance that I hadn't seen before because it was on the other side of the trees. I walked closer to it, and the doctors parted so I could see. There was my Seaweed Brain, lying on that table, as lifeless as ever.