Faults
I.
Holly J was too busy staring at the ceiling to realize that she wasn't alone in the waiting room. Her head was reeling, and her mind was blank. She slowly brought a hand to the Band-Aid on her head, brushing it slowly.
The other car had hit the driver's side of the car, and that's why Holly J had escaped with minor injuries. She remembered being so confused at what had just happened; they were just driving along and all of a sudden she was being thrown into the passenger side door, somebody's hand hitting her in the nose as the car careened onto the sidewalk.
It was like a movie, what played out next. She couldn't hear anything, not even her own voice screaming. Not the wailing of the ambulance or police cars. Not the voices of witnesses explaining what they had seen. She ignored the people grabbing onto her arms, thrashing around in an attempt to stay with him. They couldn't take her away from him. Not now.
She could see out of the corner of her eye the EMTs pulling the other driver out of the car that had hit them. Holly J couldn't tell if she recognized the person - the side of their face was soaked in too much blood.
"Holly J? What are you doing here?" a quiet voice asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
Holly J turned her head to look at the voice and was shocked to see who it belonged to. "Clare Edwards?"
Clare assessed Holly J for a moment, and Holly J did back. Clare's lipstick was fading, and though tears spilled down her cheeks, her eye makeup wasn't running. She was fiddling with the cross necklace around her neck, and her blue eyes shined with sorrow.
Finally, Holly J murmured, "Car accident."
Clare waited awhile before answering. "Car accident too."
"You don't look hurt," Holly J said before she could stop herself.
Clare shook her head. "I wasn't in it. But it's my fault." Clare broke then, covering her face with her hands as her muffled sobs sounded around the waiting room.
Holly J's eyebrows furrowed, not sure whether she could continue to question Clare or not. She slowly got up from her seat and instead sat next to Clare, wrapping a careful arm around her soldiers. "What do you mean?"
"He - we got into a fight. He was so mad at me and he just…took off. I tried calling him, to apologize. But he didn't want to listen to me. And then…there was a loud crashing sound. And…and now I'm here," Clare cried.
"Who, Clare?" Holly J whispered.
"Eli," Clare whispered back, and then she broke again, crying harder, her body shaking with sobs.
Holly J's face paled. "It was him." Clare peeked at Holly J from in between her fingers, confused. "Eli. He hit us," Holly J clarified.
"'Us'?" Clare asked hesitantly.
Holly J opened her mouth to reply, but a quiet voice called her. She saw a flash of dark curls before the figure retreated back out the door she had popped in. Holly J shot Clare a look before getting up and following the girl.
The girl turned to look at Holly J once she heard the door open and close again. It almost made her angry, how scot-free Holly J had come off. Almost.
"What is it? How is he?" Holly J asked immediately.
She was silent for a long time, her eyes trained on Holly J's. At last, she choked out, "He's gone."
Holly J stared at her blankly, not understanding her words and not wanting to. Holly J sunk to the floor, rubbing her temples and closing her eyes, attempting to fight back tears. "I want to see him."
"I don't know if you can -"
"I want to see him," Holly J repeated more firmly.
The girl sighed and held out a hand to Holly J, pulling her to her feet. They walked together down a deserted hallway to a hospital room where two people were standing next to the bed where his body rested.
The couple looked up when the girls walked in, their faces sad and careworn. Murmuring uncomprehendingly to each other, the girl led the parents out of the room, leaving Holly J alone with the newly deceased boy.
Holly J knelt down on her knees, taking one of his hands in hers. His hands were growing cold, his face paling as the life drained out of him.
"Why couldn't they try harder?" Holly J growled, anger overcoming her. "Why didn't they do everything they could to save you? They didn't try hard enough!" Holly J buried her face in the bed sheet, not wanting to look at his face.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Holly J whispered, now relinquishing and letting the tears flow down her cheeks. "For everything. For not letting you have your second chance. For letting you leave. For letting you think I didn't love you. I'm so sorry."
"Oh, Declan."