Love Hurts but Heals

Chapter 16

Jordyn's POV

After I buckle Lucy in again, I hop in the driver's seat and put the car in reverse. Lucy giggles as she stuffs her hands in her mouth, to where she gurgles her spit. My mouth forms from a frown to a straight line, and she begins to cry. Micah instantly runs through my thoughts, and I can't shake and it away.

I take her pacifier from my pocket and give it to her. She calms down instantly, and I turn the radio on to calm me.

Are you.... Are you.... Coming to the tree.... Who strung up a man.... Who say he murdered three.... Strange things did happen here.... No stranger would it be.... If we met at midnight... In the hanging tree.... says the radio.

I can't help but sing along.

Are you..... Are you.... Coming to the tree..... Where a dead man called out..... For his love to flee.... Strange things did happen here..... No stranger would it be..... If we met at midnight.... In the hanging tree....
Are you.... Are you.... Coming to the tree.... Where I told you to run.... So we both will be free.... Strange things did happen here.... No stranger would it be.... If we met.... At midnight.... In the hanging tree....
Are you ... Are you.... Coming to the tree.... Wear a necklace of rope.... Side by side with me.... Strange things did happen here.... No stranger would it be.... If we met at midnight.... In the hanging tree....

I sing the lyrics over again as I pass the hospital. I can't help but look, and my chest instantly begins to ache. As I turn right, I notice that only one room in the hospital has its lights off. I stare at it, then something begins to tickle my ear.

"Come home....." a whispered voice said.

Then I notice something in the darkness of the hospital room. A white figure that seems to be pointing at something.

I shake my head to try to regain my thoughts and turn my full attention back towards the road.

A loud horn fills my ears and my head jolts forward, and a sheet of black covers my eyes.

* * *

Carl's POV

I gently place Micah in Daryl's hands as my phone starts to ring. I pull it out of my pocket and try to speak with a clear voice as I answer.

I ask, "Hello?"

"Your big fight is tomorrow. Get down here now."

Finnick.

"Give us a few minutes. We should be down there in an hour."

"I don't think Ashton will be pretty happy with that...."

"Does it look like I care?! I'm busy right now! I'll be there as soon as I can!"

"Ok.... but you'll have to deal with Ashton when you-"

I hang up and hop in the drivers seat.

"Get in, Daryl. I gotta go."

"Where we going?" He asks as he hops in and shuts the door with Micah.

"Jordyn's parents' house. They need to watch him while we go train."

"Train?"

"Um.... Work out... I meant work out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Me and Jordyn work out now."

"She getting rid of the baby fat already?" He laughs.

"I guess so," I chuckle.

Micah begins to whine, so Daryl turns on the radio as he gets a bottle from the bag the hospital gave us in the back seat.

Are you.... Are you.... Coming to the tree.... Who strung up a man.... Who say he murdered three.... Strange things did happen here.... No stranger would it be.... If we met at midnight... In the hanging tree.... the radio plays.

I sing along until a breaking news report interrupts the song.

"A wreck has occured on Cherokee highway where a seventeen-year-old girl and a baby have been found seriously injured. The seventeen-year-old female was on the wrong side of the road. The man driving the eighteen wheeler said that she wasn't even paying attention to the road, looking into something in the distance instead. We will have more on this breaking story later tonight," says the news reporter.

And the message ends.

A few seconds of silence pass until Daryl says, "You don't think...."

"No way. That can't be her."

That's when my phone rings again.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Hello, um, I don't know who this is, but the girl who was driving and the baby have been taken to the hospital under my care. The baby is dead, but the girl is barely hanging on. I don't know if she will live or not."

I can't do anything but hang up and press the gas pedal to the floor.