Flames

Chapter 13: Car accident-Part 1

I'm walking towards my classroom when I get a call from the hospital telling me my dad has been in an accident and they are treating him there, but that's all they said- no more details. I start pacing anxiously in the hallway, worried about my dad and not knowing what to do. I didn't bring my car and mom is stuck at work, so she can't come pick me up. I try calling Sam, but he doesn't pick up and I can't find him anywhere. I'm about to collapse from anguishment when Luke approaches me. 

"Are you okay?" Luke asks worriedly.

"No," I answer quickly, tears threatening to come out. 

"What's wrong?" he asks again.

"My dad has been in an accident and I don't know how I'm gonna get to the hospital. I don't have my car with me and I can't find Sam, and...." I'm unable to finish my sentence.

"Say no more, I'll take you, come on!" Luke offers to take me, taking my hand and leading me towards his car.

"Is my dad okay?" I ask desperately to the first nurse I find. 

"Calm down, sweetie!! What's your father's name?" the nurse asks kindly.

"Edward. Edward Cole," I answer trembling. Luke takes my hand and squeezes it tight, trying to give me comfort and stopping my trembling.

"Your father is in room 305. He just got out of surgery," she tells me. "Come with me! I'll take you to see him."

 I let go of Luke's hand and I take one look at him and I know he's telling me to go on. I follow the nurse to my dad's room.

"Thank God you're okay!" I exclaim as I run to my dad and hug him. "I was so scared." Tears start streaming down my face.

"Oh, baby, I'm fine. It was only a small car accident," my dad says. 

How can he say it was a small car accident when his left eye is bandaged and his face and body is covered in bruises, and the nurse said he just got out of surgery, for Christ's sake! He has always been so positive and calm. "A small accident? Look at you!!"

"These are just some minor lacerations," he assures me. "I just had some shattered pieces of glass embedded near my left eye, that's all. The wonderful surgeon took it out, and my eye will be fine. God's looking over me."

"Thank God he is truly looking over you. I don't know what would I do without you," I tell him, tears streaming down my face like a cascade. I calm down a little and ask "how did you get into a car accident?"

"A blonde girl, just a couple years older than you in a red mustang, was speeding, I think she was street racing, and she ran the red light, and that's when she crashed into my car," he explains, lost in thought, remembering the brutal event. "She got out of the car to see if I was alive and then, she called 911 and drove off."

"Did this girl happen to be about 5'6 tall and like 140 pounds with blue eyes?" I ask him, hoping my intuition is wrong. 

"Well, I was almost comatose, but yes, I think she was tall and definitely skinny," my dad answers. "Why?"

"Uhh.......Nothing!! I have to go," I tell him and kiss his forehead. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

"I don't want you missing school," my dad shouts before I'm out of the room.

"How's your dad?" Luke asks me truly concerned.

"He's covered in bruises, but overall he is fine, which is practically a miracle considering..." I answer.

"That's great," he says with a smile. "I called Jake and told him about your dad's accident, so he went to pick up your sister from daycare and left her at your mom's, he said your mom managed to get out of work early and that she has been calling you nonstop, but you haven't picked up. Jake's headed over here now."