One Way Bridge

Chapter 9

When I woke up on Wednesday, Annie had already gotten up and moved the air mattress so it was leaning against my desk. This meant I wouldn't have to climb over it to leave the room. I decided what I was going to do yesterday. I quickly got dressed and quietly skipped past my brother's room; I didn't want to wake him, but I was in a hurry.

Downstairs, I found Jenny and Annie in the kitchen. Despite being from different sides of my family, they seemed to get along well. "Morning, Emma, can I get you something?" Jenny asked setting down her mug of coffee.

"No actually, I was wondering if I could go to the park. I do my best thinking there, and I was hoping it would help me write my speech." I may have been lying about the thinking part, but I needed to get out of that house.

Jenny and Annie shared a look before she spoke again. "Okay, do you want me to drive you there?"

No thanks, I can drive myself." I grabbed the keys from the counter and called over my shoulder, "I'll be back by lunch".

I climbed into my car, which I guess was really my car now and put the key in ignition. I took a deep breath and then turned the key. The car roared to life. I turned the radio up to drown out my thoughts and sped down the street.

I knew they would try to stop me, so I lied. I had to do this. They would forgive me later, I hoped. I got to the stop light where I turned onto 41. It was red, which gave me more time to freak out. Somewhere along that road, my parents died. The light turned green, but I didn't move. It took the car behind me to honk three times before I took the turn and immediately pulled over.

I turned off the car and pulled my knees up to my chest. I buried my face and took deep breaths. I tried to lose myself in the song that was still playing on the radio. I whispered the lyrics to myself, trying to drown out the thoughts that told me what I was about to do was a bad idea.

It didn't work. I began saying the lyrics louder and louder until I was screaming them. When the song finished, I decided I had to do this, it was then or never. I turned the car on again and merged back into traffic. I was on that road for maybe five minutes before I turned off again, this time into a parking lot. I got out of the car quickly and walked a brisk pace towards the large building.

Inside, I went straight to the front desk. "Can I help you?" the lady snarled. I don't think she was the type of person to work a customer service job.

"Yes, I'm here to see Michael Carson." I tried my hardest to sound confident, but I don't think it really mattered.

She typed something into the computer and without looking up, replied, "Room 219, just up those stairs." I turned around to see the stairs she was pointing at. I murmured a thanks and left.

I had really thought it would have been harder to get into the hospital, but I was wrong. I tried to walk at a normal pace as to not attract suspicion. I also tried not to think about what I was doing. Riley would be mad.

I found room 219 and took a deep breath. I would have probably taken more time if the room wasn't next to a nurses' station and there wasn't a nurse staring at me over her glasses. I knocked twice and took a step back waiting for an answer.

"Come in," I heard a voice through the door. I tentatively opened the door, still aware of the nurse's eyes on me. I smiled shyly at the man. He was probably in his late twenties and seemed to have a kind face, but he looked pretty beat up, both physically and emotionally. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I-I'm Emma," I stuttered, "Emma King." His reaction was immediate. His face fell from the friendly smirk that had previously occupied it. He knew who I was, or at he knew my last name.

"King?" he questioned and I nodded my head. "As in..." I nodded knowing he was asking about my parents and our relation.

"They are-were my parents." My voiced cracked and so did the wall I had been trying so hard to keep standing. I hadn't spoken about them in pass tense yet. It was a change I didn't want to make and knew I'd struggle with for a long time.

"I'm sorry," his voice was sincere as he took a step towards me. He hesitated before pulling me into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Emma." My tears began to flow down my face and onto Michael's shirt. "It was such a stupid thing to do and I wish so much I could go back to that day and change what happened."

"The text," I got out between breaths, "was it important? Please tell me it was important." I don't know why it mattered so much to me.

"I was texting my daughter. She's seven and I was on my way to pick her up from a friend's house. She was texting me using one of the parents' phones. The message I was typing said 'K love you'." He was ashamed and I could tell he was worried about telling me this, but I had to know.

"You realize, because of that message, I can never tell my parents that I love them again?"

"Yeah," his voice had changed, so I took a moment to look up at him. He was crying. Tears slid gently and quietly down his face. I knew right then that I forgave him. He made a mistake that thousands of people do, just his mistake happened to kill my parents.

Full Copyright 2013

Updated 6/14/2018