Part 5- An Accident
May 13, 2000
Tim Carpenter held his phone to his ear, waiting for his girlfriend to pick up. Finally, she did.
"Hey Julia. Are you busy today?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"Well, uh, I have a dentist appointment today at that new place downtown, but if you want we can go and get something afterward."
"What time?"
"9:30. I figure it'll take about an hour and then we can go get food."
"9:30? Oh, I'm going with Jennifer today. The dresses are ready, and the wedding's next week. Sorry. You know, Evan won the lottery yesterday!"
"Nah, it's okay. Maybe some other time."
"Yeah. Tomorrow maybe?"
"Uh, sure."
She sat on the sofa, channel surfing, waiting for her (overworked) sister to wake up. At around 9:20, she landed on the news channel and saw footage from a horrifying accident.
"This young woman was pulled away from her vehicle just in time by a nearby officer. Again, the accident happened around 9:15 A.M. on Interstate 23. Traffic has come to a standstill, and emergency crews are working to clean up the wreckage. Police are now investigating the accident to determine the cause. So far, eighteen fatalities have been counted," came the news report. Julia scrambled to call Tim. There was no answer on his home phone or his cell phone. She knew that to get downtown, you had to take Route 23. She said a silent prayer that he was unharmed. All day, she waited in suspense with nausea and a looming dread that grew by the minute. Finally, at eleven, she crawled out of the window after Jennifer went to work and made her way to Tim's.
"Timmy? You awake?" Julia called from ground level as she threw pebbles at his window.
"Yeah, I'm up. It's eleven. What are you doing here?"
I heard about that Route 23 accident. Let me in."
"Come through the front door. I'll come let you in."
"Okeydokey." Julia sprinted through the bushes and waited at the front door. Tim opened up and Julia stumbled over the threshold. She didn't look good at all. Something wasn't quite right with Julia, and Tim wanted to know what.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked once they were upstairs in his room.
"You told me you were just going to the dentist, and you don't come home until, what, nine? I was kinda worried."
"Don't worry so much. I'm okay. Some girl said she had a vision about the accident and blocked the on-ramp."
"Huh? Visions?" Julia asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, but get this shit: Now she says Death is after us! I think she must be trippin'."
"You think so, eh?"
"It's BS."
"Surely you remember Alex Browning?"
"How could I forget Alex the Infamous? How many times in one day do I have to hear about this? I know the story all too well now. Plus, last year I almost had to put a leash on you to prevent losing you to Alex."
"He had a girlfriend."
"What does he have to do with this now? I know he had that dream about the plane blowing up, but that was then and this is now."
"Close your eyes," Julia said, closing Tim's door. She pulled out an Adidas shirt from Tim's bottom drawer and removed her halter top and jeans. "Okay, you can open now."
"God, why don't you just go ahead and move in?"
"You mean that?"
"I was kidding, Julie."
"Oh. Dude, you never know. maybe Death could be after you."
"Julia, you're not sounding like yourself tonight. You wouldn't say all this if you were sane. What's going on?"
"In the wake of Flight 180, my cousin died, and Alex died. They would have died on the plane, but Alex got them all off, and that screwed up Death's design. Here's the thing, though- I think you were supposed to die in that accident, and so was I. You invited me to go with you to breakfast earlier, but I had to pick up the dress I'm to wear to Jennifer's wedding."
"Lucky you."
"No, not lucky me. Number one, the dress is hideous. Number two, Death is after your ass and mine, and there's no escaping it. Now give me a cigarette before I go crazy."
"Here, take one and tell me what this is all about, because you're not telling me something," Tim said, throwing Julia an unopened pack. Tim was becoming more and more irritated with Julia the more she talked about Death.
"If you were to die tomorrow, what would I do?"
"You'd get over it quick."
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!" Julia roared.
"Julie, if I die, I die, and it's over. You'll have to move on and find someone new."
"Don't... don't say that," Julia whispered. Tim sat down next to her when he realized that Julia really was distressed about all of this hubbub. He moved her hair around and kissed her neck. Julia finished her cigarette and they laid back on the bed. Julia wiped tears out of her eyes. She stood up and put on music Tim's computer on a very low volume so Nora wouldn't wake up.
"Why are you putting that on now?"
"Nine Inch Nails."
"I know. Why?"
"I like this song. But listen to it."
"Ohhhh," Tim said, catching on, as Julia sifted through the top drawer.
"Where are they?"
"Middle drawer," he said. Julia opened up the middle drawer and pulled out a small blue packet.
"You take care of that, and I'll be right back. I figure if we're gonna die, we should make the most of these last days."
"Aha... I like your thinking."
"What happens in here stays in here. I'm holding you to that."
"Then I'll hold you to it as well."
Music still played when Julia returned and jumped onto the bed. Tim and Julia didn't get any sleep until 1:30 A.M, when both Champagne Supernova and complete exhaustion put them both to sleep.
At six, Tim woke up and Julia was curled up under the covers. It was sad that he had scored with his girlfriend and she had to leave now. He shook Julia awake and she put her jeans back on.
"Your halter?" Tim asked, dangling it, teasing her.
"Keep it."
"You've still got my shirt on!" Tim said. "Oh, keep it if you must."
"Thank you," Julia said sweetly. "I have to go. Which way should I take?"
"Take the back. Wait..." Tim kissed Julia and she ran downstairs to the back door, but she was, thankfully, as quiet as a church mouse. Julia crawled through her sister Jennifer's window. This wasn't right... Jennifer was usually gone by now. She was a waitress, and breakfast began at five. Why wasn't Jennifer at work?
"Jen? You okay?" Julia asked, hovering over her nineteen-year-old sister's blue bed.
"Huh?" Jennifer drawled, half-asleep.
"Why you still in the bed, lazy butt?"
"Go away." Jennifer said. Her face was blotchy and red and her eyes were swollen. Tissues were strewn across her normally clean floor.
"Okay, what's wrong?" Julia asked. Jennifer didn't wake up or even roll over. Julia shrugged it off and went back to her own room. She turned on the television, but the news was on.
"In our top story this morning, Lottery winner Evan Lewis was killed yesterday while escaping from an apartment fire. Police say he was impaled by a fire escape ladder through the right eye, and that he was killed instantly. Lewis's fiancee refused to comment," the newscast reported. Julia's jaw dropped and she wiped tears away. Her sister was abed because of grief. Her fiance had died yesterday, and Julia had been so inconsiderate. Julia was shocked at this news. All the color was flushed from her face. A lump grew in her throat and she choked back tears. She wanted to call Tim and tell him this, but she knew he was probably in the shower and wouldn't pick up the phone. She then remembered that Evan had been on Route 23 yesterday, because he was out to do more shopping, but he was coming from her house... and he had evaded the crash. Evan had literally been killed by Death. Now Julia's fear was realized. She knew it wouldn't be long before Death came after Tim or herself.
Later that morning, Julia waited on the porch with her cell phone in her hands. She wanted Tim to call her when he got home, but it was almost ten A.M. and there was no sign of him. She was ready to call his house, but then her landline rang. She dashed inside to take the call. It was not a number she recognized as anyone calling for her, because it said Belleview Hospital.
"Hello?"
"Julie, it's Nora. Where's your mom?"
"She's in the kitchen. Are you alright?"
"I'm okay. Put your mom on."
"Hold on. MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM! It's Nora. She's at the hospital. She sounds really bad."
"Okay, Julie. I got it. Hello?"
"Diana, it's Nora. Tim is dead," she said. Diana shut the kitchen door and sat down at the table.
"Oh my God. What am I gonna tell Julia?" she said in a lowered tone.
"You can bring her here if you want, but she won't be able to see him."
"Did he go peacefully at least?"
"Diana, he was smashed by a panel of glass they were going to put on a building downtown. That's not very peaceful. It smashed him like a bug. It just smashed him."
"Nora, it's gonna be okay. I'll bring Julia."
"Okay," Nora said, and then hung up. Diana sat there at the table for a few moments, thinking how Julia would accept the loss of her boyfriend of over a year, or if she would even accept it at all.
"What's the matter, Di?" Robert Jensen asked his wife.
"First Jennifer, now Julia."
"What?"
"Evan died, and now Tim."
"Good Lord. How did Julia's boy die?"
"A panel of glass smashed him."
"My God. Reminds me of Flight 180. I had to help scrape Terry off the street that day, and those accidents weren't your average accidents. People don't get decapitated by trains and killed by signs."
"Or impaled by ladders, like Evan. I'm taking Julia to the hospital to see Tim. I know she'll never forgive me if I don't."
Diana put on some decent clothes and instructed Julia to do the same.
"Where are we going?"
"Julia, something serious has happened."
"What now?"
"Tim died this morning."
Julia remained silent. No tears escaped from her eyes. Her lip trembled slightly, but she did not make a single sound. Diana drove Julia to the hospital and they met Nora in the lobby. Nora wrapped her arms around Julia in a sympathetic hug, but Julia was stiff as a board and as pale as a ghost. A doctor led Nora and Julia up to where doctors were trying to put pieces of Timothy Riley Carpenter back together. Between the sight of Tim's mutilated body and that hospital stench, no one was quite sure which one made Julia lose her breakfast. Still, Julia refused to cry.
"I... war..."
"You... you want? What do you want, Julie?" Diana asked a very frail, pale Julia.
"I... warned... him," croaked Julia.
"Does she want to see the body?" the doctor asked. Julia nodded in agreement. He led Nora, Julia, and Diana into the operating room.
"Body?...Timmy..." she whispered, touching what was left of his face. Only then did Julia cry. Her eyes burned with the sting of tears and anger at Death itself. When Diana tried to pry Julia away from her dead boyfriend's body, Julia turned very hostile.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed. Eventually she went back home and sat in complete solitude. Jennifer came into her room later that evening, inviting Julia to hang out in hers for a while.
"I know just how you feel."
"I know. It's crazy isn't it?"
"Did you try to warn him?"
"Yeah. He didn't listen."
"Neither did Evan. But look, I was in a bunch of classes with Alex in my Senior Year, and he wouldn't have believed me if I had said anything about Death having a design."
"Really? I thought he believed in that."
"After the crash he believed it. I know you've always believed in it," Jennifer said.
"I am kinda glad I did what I did lastnight."
"Is that why you were sneaking in my window this morning? You scored with him!"
"It wasn't the first time, Jen."
"Really? When else did you two.. you know..."
"Christmas."
"You did use.. the right stuff.. right?"
"Yes, Jennifer, we used it."
"Both times?"
"Yes. I was on the meds and he used... you know.. 'Shrink-wrap'."
"Is that what you call it?"
"Yeah. I started calling it shrink-wrap because it's like you're making Shrinky Dinks, not love!" Julia exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that there was no more Tim around to hear this. She remembered he loved to listen to the jokes she cracked. Jennifer laughed.
"Julia, what I'm about to say, you should always remember. Don't forget Tim, but move on. Remember that he loved you a lot and that you still love him. Just think of all the good things that happened. If it helps you, put on some old Backstreet Boys or NSync and dance around your room. Just don't turn Julia into a Juliet. I know you won't."
"I won't."
Julia hadn't walked five steps out of Jennifer's room that the phone rang. Jennifer answered it, but Julia could hear what she was saying.
"No, this is Jennifer Jensen. Yeah, I was. Julia? Hold on. Jules, it's for you. It's the po-po."
"Oh s. Hello?"
"Julia Jensen, this is Officer Thomas Burke. I have some very bad news."
"I already know about Tim. I'm trying to recuperate from seeing-"
"This isn't about Tim. His mother is dead."
"How did you get my number?"
"Their maid said you were the one to notify."
"Marie said I was the one to call?"
"We wanted to tell you, as she said you wouldn't take it well. I know this must be a very trying time for you."
"Mmm. Trying. Heartbreaking describes it better," Julia said through tears and clenched teeth.
"May I speak to your parents, Miss Jensen?"
"Yeah. MOM! TELEPHONE!" Julia called from atop the stairs. Diana Jensen picked up the phone and spoke with Officer Burke for a while. Julia hung up Jennifer came back in.
"What did he want?"
"Nora is dead now."
"Holy shit."
"I know. First Terry, then Evan, now Tim and Nora... I wish this would end."
"It'll end soon enough, Jules. This too shall pass."
"It's after me now."
"Why's that?"
"I was supposed to go with Tim yesterday, he had a dentist appointment and then we were going out to the sushi bar."
"He invited you to go and you declined?"
"Yeah, because I had to be fitted for that dress."
"So you did sorta cheat death, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so..."
"I have a story like that, sort of. I wanted to go to Evan's apartment and clean it up a bit, but I couldn't because my boss made me refill all the salt shakers and ketchup bottles. I worked late, and as I was closing up I saw the news report about Evan."
"How did you take it?"
"I could barely drive home. Anna offered me a ride home but I didn't want my car to not be there later on. So that's when I came home and peeked in your room, and you weren't there. I figured you were at Tim's, or maybe Katie's. But let me ask you this- did you sneak out lastnight?"
"No, I left because Mom and Dad were fighting again."
"They were? Why?"
"Something about money, I think. I left early on."
"Oh. And you slept with Tim after you got there?"
"Yeah. I warned him first, and consolation led to making out, and making out led to full blown-"
"Okay, you can stop there."
"Oh. Sorry."
Julia and Jennifer talked for much longer that evening, until Julia wanted to see if sleep would come as easily as the previous night. Lo and behold, it did not. The more she tried to sleep, the more Julia thought of what might have been. She would have been Julia Rachael Carpenter after graduation, but now that would never come to fruition. Never. Tim and Julia would never have that post-grad, post-college life they had both fantasized about before. They wanted to stay together, be like that couple who weathers EVERYTHING together forever, but somehow Julia knew deep down from the beginning that it would never last that long. Now she had to start over and rebuild from the remnants of her shattered heart.
The next week was Tim and Nora's funeral. Julia had lost her fallback family. Ashley Carpenter had flown in the day of their deaths. It was the first time she and Julia had met face to face. They cried the whole time, as did Katie Fenwick, Chelsea Moliere, Matt Adams, Diana and Robert Jensen, Jennifer Jensen, and even Ariele Marsh.
Six months later, Julia was treated for severe depression. She had attempted suicide twice. Still, she hung in the balance between just having a heartbeat and living like she was actually alive. She was on Zoloft for six more months, until she feigned being convinced Death had no design, that it was all coincidence...
End of part 5
