Chapter Ten
Grace kept herself engrossed in her reading book. Her mother was late, but then again, she was probably dealing with the investigations about the crash on Harrington Road. The crash that she herself caused. Doing something that she knew was a dangerous thing to do in the first place.
The room was filled in silence. The only sound she had heard inside occurred whenever she turned the page in her book. From the windows outside, Grace was able to hear the wind blow. Or the laughter from people who weren't low life criminals like she was.
When her mother left, the first place Grace wanted to go to was the police station. Retract the statement about the stolen car! Admit that she made it up to cover that the crash was her fault! Confess that she was texting behind the wheel!
Whilst she was studying and preparing for interviews, the first thing Grace did was research the consequences for texting whilst driving.
Sometimes it was classed as careless driving.
Others it was classed as dangerous driving.
Grace sighed remembering what she's found. It didn't matter to her that one could result in a life sentence. It didn't matter to her that she would end up in prison if the truth came out. It didn't matter to her that it will be a while before her mother could trust her again.
What mattered to Grace, was that at the end of the day, she still killed two people and almost killed a third.
Grace still had no idea about who the victims were. Whenever she asked her mother, she was shut down as they weren't 'important'. But Grace had already worked out that the reason her mother never told her, was because the two people she killed worked within the NHS. Dr Hardy must have been returning home from a conference with his colleagues.
The landline started to ring. It's seven in the evening, so they were expecting any annoying telephone sales. Grace walked over to the phone, about to touch it.
But then she saw it.
The silver car with the massive dent in the passenger side, sliding to the side of the road, before losing its balance, tipping itself over and rolling off the hill. Only stopping at the flat ground, surrounded by white dust. Only to see one window at the side cracked and the window at the front smashed completely.
Grace suddenly closed and opened her eyes. Walking away from the phone and over to the corner, she lowered herself into the corner. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she slowly let the tears drop.
"I'm sorry," Grace looked to the ceiling, "I'm so sorry."
Alicia walked into the Emergency Admissions Department to see Ethan still perched on his bed, looking up to see her. It pained to see him smiling weakly, but she was warned that even though Ethan is fit enough to go home, he will not only have to deal with needing support with his broken arm, but they're not sure how traumatised he must have been as well.
But after yesterday, Alicia knew that she would have to support Ethan without any help. After all, everyone had been broken after Iain and Lily died as a result of the crash. People would be too sad about what they've lost, they won't be able to remember that Ethan had also been in the crash and pulled through.
"Hey," she whispered, walking to his cubicle, "Have you got everything?"
Ethan nodded, looking at his bags. Alicia brought his things in the night of the accident. The night where Lily and Iain, Ethan couldn't say it. He still couldn't sleep; well he was only able to sleep a few moments before he starts to feel nausea after having the feeling of being thrown about in the car when it lost its balance.
Ethan still didn't understand how he survived the accident, but Lily and Iain didn't.
Or that the girl would take off the way she did.
Or how he was able to get himself out of the car.
"Have they given you the discharge notes yet?" Alicia asked Ethan cautiously.
Alicia was saddened to learn that Ethan couldn't find the words to tell her. All she was able to get were facial expressions. It was as if Ethan couldn't accept the knowledge that he was able to go home. That being in the hospital was his only comfort.
Ethan shook his head at Alicia's question, tears building up in his eyes. Today's the day he's going home. To try and gain some normality in his life. Although, his arm was still wrapped up in a sling. The doctors were preparing to get a sick note for him as it will be a while before his broken arm would heal.
Ethan was about to blink, but the moment he closed his eyes…
…The road was in sight as the car was pushed out of the road!
Ethan's eyes suddenly snapped open and he gasped for air.
"Ethan?" Alicia asked, "Are you okay?"
Ethan looked at Alicia, unable to comprehend what just happened. He didn't understand just how long he was going to have the flashbacks for. Why was he having them in the first place? Why was it only just the crash that he could remember from this terrible weekend?
Why won't the noises of the crash just go away?
Why was the crash the only thing he could remember from the weekend?
"Ethan," Alicia whispered, "You've gone quiet. What's wrong?"
Ethan could find the words to say to Alicia about how he was feeling. After all, why should he feel scared about something that he pulled through? It should have been a huge relief for him to be able to go home, especially since.
Ethan still couldn't say those words.
It haunted him too much.
"Alicia," Ethan whispered, "Before we head home, could I see the memorial please?"
"Grace!" Connie shouted, "Come on, you're going to be late for college!"
Connie knew she had a busy day today. Especially given that she needed to contact both Gem and Lily's mother regarding gaining their permissions to release Iain and Lily's names to the press. Connie felt guilty, it's too soon to release everything, but she knew they would need to contact everyone to inform them about what's happened.
Looking at the phone, Connie noticed that they have a voicemail message. Pressing the messages on her phone she listened carefully at the message.
"Hi Grace. Listen, I'm going to be home late tonight. I've left money for you to order some food for tonight. If there's any leftovers, I have plastic containers you can us to reheat."
Connie froze when she heard this. Did Grace not pick up the message made for her? If she hadn't, what did she do about her dinner?
"Mum?" Connie turned around to find Grace dressed for college.
"Is everything okay?" Connie asked her daughter, "You didn't get my message last night."
"I'm sorry," Grace looked down, "I was about to take the phone. But then. Then."
Connie suddenly learned the truth. Grace was about to answer the phone, but then she remembered the crash. And what happened. And how it started in the first place.
"Grace," Connie sighed, "What happened, happened."
"Because of me," Grace whispered, "I know the lives lost were members of the department. Mum, who were they?"
This wasn't the right time to explain to Grace what happened when Iain, Lily and Ethan were all brought into the ED. Last night, Connie felt guilty, especially when she learned Lily was pregnant and that she couldn't even face Ethan, knowing what caused the accident.
"I'll explain when we get home," Connie decided, "I have to get permission from their families first before an announcement is made. It'll turn up in the news once their names are announced."
"So, they were members of the department," Grace whispered fearfully.
"Yes," Connie nodded, "I shouldn't be telling you this. It's a breach of confidentiality."
"I'm sorry," Grace whispered, looking to the ground, "I'll never be able to forgive myself."
"I know," Connie patted her arm, "But we'll be able to move on eventually. I'm happy you've learnt your lesson. I'm just sorry it took this to happen."
Ethan stood quietly in front of the memorial, taking in the sight before him.
There were so many flowers, all ranging from lilies to roses to daisies. The daisies were clearly the newest flowers to be placed at the bench as the lilies and roses were slowly starting to dry out. There was even an Eevee (the only other Pokémon besides Pikachu that he knew about) resting on one side. He remembered Lily stopping at every Pokémon stand at the convention.
Ethan felt sad, that was the earliest memory of the weekend he had.
Ethan also noticed a lot of sympathy cards laid out at the memorial. It was sad, it was clear that the only reasons there were daisies at the memorial was because he told Charlie that they were Lily's favourite flower. Ethan even felt saddened to remember that only he and Gem knew about Lily's love of the Pokémon franchise.
"You're okay?" Alicia asked him, "I know this is difficult. But we'll head home and we can put on some television for you."
"Thanks Alicia," Ethan whispered, not taking his eyes of the colourful memorial.
Her mother offered to drive Grace into college this morning. Her classes don't start until eleven, but Grace knew she needed a distraction to take her mind off things. So, going into college to use the library was a good way of taking her mind off, knowing fully well that soon the crash on Harrington Road will be the topic of discussion again.
Grace was about to touch the door of the car…
…Then she heard it.
The sound of her driving into another car. The sound of her phone hitting the floor as she looked up from the crash. The sound of the radio which announced that two people had died.
"Grace?" Connie asked, concerned.
Grace held her hand to her chest, trying to take the deep breaths to calm her nerves. It's a scary thought, but she couldn't even touch the car, let alone sit in it. Inhale, then exhale. Try to take her mind off what had happened. It's difficult, especially when all she could see was the smashed-up car in the middle of the field.
"Mum," Grace whispered, looking at her, "Can I walk it please? I can't face it. Knowing what happened."
Connie looked nervous. The crash had more of an impact on Grace than what she first thought. It was clear that Grace was terrified at her actions and that she's worried that another accident could occur.
Like she once said, it's not just her own driving she needed to look out for. It's everyone else's as well.
"Yeah," Connie nodded, "I won't force you into getting into a car. Not until you feel ready."
Alicia and Ethan walked into the car park together. Alicia was carrying Ethan's bag, noticing how much stuff she put in. She offered to carry this as she can simply swap the bag from arm to arm to give each arm some rest. Ethan didn't have that luxury now, with his arm still in a sling.
Alicia unlocked her car, allowing both her and Ethan to get in. She turned as Ethan strapped himself in with his left hand in the passenger seat before strapping herself in. Looking at Ethan sadly, she's broken as he hadn't said a single word since they left the memorial outside the ED. All she was focused on was making sure that no one put the focus on Ethan, it's the last thing he needed.
Ethan kept his eyes in front before closing his eyes.
"Iain!"
"Lily!"
Ethan grabbed onto the handle with his right hand, pushing his head away from the window. He watched as Iain grabbed Lily's hand, squeezing it as hard as he could.
Before everything turned black.
Ethan's eyes snapped opened. His whole body tensed up, just as Alicia started the car.
"Alicia," Ethan muttered, "Stop the engine."
Alicia grew confused as she looked at him, shocked at what Ethan just said.
"Please," Ethan looked at her, "Stop the engine. I can't be here."
Alicia did what he asked her to do. Twisting her keys, she watched as Ethan unstrapped himself from the car, before opening the door and jumping out of the car.
Breathless, dizzy, nausea.
His thoughts turned to Lily and Iain. They were happy. Joyful. Positive.
Then the crash happened.
And that happy couple were no more.
Ethan felt as if the stomach acid was creeping up to his throat. The thought of being in that car terrified him to the point of being sick. He couldn't face being in the car again. Not after what had happened.
"Ethan?" Alicia asked nervously, leaving the car.
"I'm sorry Alicia," Ethan whispered, "I can't. I can't. It's too soon."
"Ethan?"
"I'm sorry," Ethan whispered, "I can't go into the car. I couldn't breathe."
Alicia didn't know what to say. Ethan's terrified after what had happened about the crash, so terrified that he couldn't even be in the car.
"We can walk it if you'd like," Alicia offered, "I'm sorry Ethan. I had no idea. I didn't mean to rush you."
"I'm sorry," Ethan started to sob, "It's too much."
A bit of a quick chapter, after I've realised I've neglected both Ethan and Grace. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
