Hi--Sorry that this chapter took a few extra days to post. I wanted to get it out earlier in the week but unfortunately got wiped out by a bad case of the flu. I'm actually writing this with my eyes half closed so if it doesn't make any sense, I apologize!
Thanks again for all of your amazing feedback--I was really impressed that a lot of you knew exactly where the accident was going. You guys are so smart! It's nice to know we're all on the same page (literally). So I hope you like this next update...enjoy :)
"What? What kind of accident? Is grandma okay?" Sadie asked in panic.
"Yes, your grandmother is fine. It's not her….," their mother started hesitantly.
"Would you please just tell us, Mom?" Jude pleaded.
Mrs. Harrison took a deep breath. "It's your father."
"WHAT?" Sadie screamed. "Oh my god, what happened?"
"Sadie, please calm down. Everything is going to be fine. Yvette left me a voicemail saying he had been in a car accident the night of the storm."
"A car accident? Is he okay?" Sadie asked, feeling the tears fall on her cheeks.
"Yes, he's okay. He was unconscious but by the time she called, he had woken up and was doing better. He broke a few bones and has a pretty bad concussion but is going to be fine."
Both Sadie and Jude exhaled deeply. Jude felt her heart still racing at the thought that something serious had happened to her father.
"Can we see him?" Jude asked softly.
"I suppose so," her mom responded, surprised at her daughter's request since Jude hadn't wanted to see their father since the divorce. "According to the weather, the roads are still very bad today but they're working on the electricity and we should hopefully be able to get out tomorrow. We can go then."
Sadie and Jude nodded, speechless and not moving.
"Guess he's pretty lucky," Sadie said to Jude, watching their mom walk towards the coffee pot.
"Yeah, guess so," Jude agreed, in a daze. She turned to look at Sadie. "It could've been worse though. It could've been…"
"I know," Sadie said, cutting off Jude's thoughts. "But it wasn't. And that's what we need to focus on. He's going to be okay," she said, wrapping an arm around her sister. They sat together in thought, watching Mrs. Harrison make breakfast. Eventually, Sadie walked over to help her mother while Jude headed upstairs.
Later, once everyone was awake, Sadie told Ryan what had happened. They embraced as she began to cry, not noticing Kwest and Tommy enter.
"Hey—everything okay?" Kwest asked.
They broke the embrace and Sadie wiped her eyes.
"Yeah. My dad was in a car accident but everything should be fine," Sadie explained.
"A car accident? Was it serious?" Tommy asked.
"I don't think so. My mom got a message from his girlfriend, Yvette, saying he's at the hospital with some broken bones and a concussion but he should be fine," she recounted. "But it gave me and Jude a scare."
Tommy looked around. "Where's Jude?"
"Upstairs. We were both kind of shook up, I think she's in her room."
Tommy immediately turned and walked upstairs, hearing Kwest ask more questions behind him. He knocked on her door, hearing soft voices inside. He heard a quiet "come in," as he turned the knob to see Jude sitting on her bed with Kat. She had clearly been crying as her eyes were red and puffy.
"Hi," he said. "Sorry, I can come back, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm okay, thanks," Jude said, grabbing a tissue and wiping her eyes dry.
"You can stay, I'm actually leaving," Kat said, standing up. "I need to go grab something for breakfast. I'll check on you later."
"Thanks, Kat," Jude replied. Kat gave Jude a hug and then took off, closing the door and leaving her alone with Tommy.
"I heard about your dad from Sadie. I'm really sorry," he said uneasily.
"Thanks. He's going to be okay. It sounds like it could've been much worse," she said, looking at him standing awkwardly at her door. "You can come in, you know. I'm holding the white peace flag today, at least until you annoy me."
He snickered and walked towards the bed, sitting where Kat had been.
"Do you know how it happened?" he asked.
"Nope. My mom just got a message letting us know about the accident. I'm hoping we can get out of here tomorrow and go see him."
Tommy nodded, "That's good." He sat there in silence, searching for something to say that would make her feel better.
"It's strange…how quickly things can change, you know?" she asked. "Like I didn't care about him yesterday but today, I feel like I need to see him," she said, tears welling up.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Things can change in an instant. My uncle had a heart attack and died a few years ago. It makes you think, how would you have done things differently had you known."
"Exactly. One minute he's there and you don't take advantage of it, and the next, everything could be gone…," she trailed, thinking for a moment. "Were you close to him? Your uncle?"
Tommy recalled him vividly. "Sort of. My Uncle Mike was the one person in my family who made an attempt to understand me."
She looked up at him. "You've never really told me about your family. Are you close to them?"
Tommy shifted on the bed, uneasy with the topic but wanting to open up to her. "Not really. They pretty much disowned me when I told them I was going to join a band and drop out of school. I talk to them on birthdays and holidays, but we're far from close."
"Do you have any siblings?" Jude asked, feeling absurd at the basic information she didn't know.
"One older sister, Kimberly. I talk to her a little more than my parents, but she's living a totally different life outside Vancouver. She's married with two kids. My Uncle Mike was the only one who understood music—he was in a band throughout most of his life but never made anything out of it. He wanted me to go where he didn't, although like my parents, he too wasn't happy to hear I was dropping out of school."
"Understandable," Jude commented. "My mom would kill me if I said that."
"Yeah, she probably would," he said with a smile. "Anyway, when he died, I kept thinking I should've called him more, kept in touch more. But you, you have a chance to spend time with your dad. I know he's made mistakes, but maybe you should give him another chance."
"Yeah, I think maybe you're right. I can't forget everything he's put us through, but I can at least try to move on," she said, faintly smiling and looking into his eyes. He reached for her hand in support of her decision. They looked at each other in silence but the moment was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in," she said, as they both turned to see Drew enter. He walked in and immediately grumbled at the sight of Tommy sitting on the bed holding her hand. The two guys eyed each other across the room, Tommy not budging at the sight of him.