Emails

Chapter 43 | Present day

Sam.

Present day.

I get a call from Elizabeth. I get a call from Liv's mom. I'm confused for a second. Why is her name popping up on the top of my phone's screen? I thought we were estranged because of Liv and I's pending relationship. It buzzes and screams like my alarm clock, demanding that I answer the phone.

Which is why I've never been decisive. I don't want to say no and hit the red button and I don't want to say yes and hit the green button. Simple logic.

I click answer and I almost don't recognize the voice on the other line. It's breathy and panicked. She's hyperventilating. I start to ask what's happening and she yells.

"Sam- Sam, Liv-it's Liv. She got into a car crash-" It's a muffled by the shrill in my ears.

Liv.

Car crash.

I grab my keys.

Run.

Run like a madman.

Leave.

"Sam-what's going on." My mother's worried voice punctures through my haze. I say that I have to go. That a friend had an emergency.

I don't remember what happened in the car. I sped through red lights and went twenty-five above the speed limit.

I don't remember that.

I charge through the ER doors and nurses stop and stare. Patients waiting stop and stare. They ask me if I need something and I say,

"Liv. Liv- car crash. Is she okay? Is she okay. Whereisshe?" Whereisshe? My words are fast, pouring out of my mouth like a damn waterfall. The nurse thinks I'm drunk. She thinks I'm slurring and tripping over my words.

I see Liv's mom in the hall and I run towards her. People tell me to stop running but I don't care. I'm almost a pool of water at my shoes. "Where's Liv? Is she okay? Is she okay. Whereisshe?" Issheokay.Issheokay.

She sobs. Tremors racking her body like earthquakes. "She's fine. She just got out of surgery. She'll be okay. My Liv will be okay." She's talking to herself, sinking to the floor.

I awkwardly wrap my arms around her shoulder.

She will be okay.

Liv will be okay.

Because she's Liv.

She has to.

And I collapse too,

she has to.