Loyalty

Chapter 48: Party?

Brian's POV

The day after the accident, two policemen came to Jessica's hospital room to give us some details and explain what actually happened. Once I got to the hospital, I hadn't even considered what might've caused the accident. My only concern was helping Jess recover from her injuries.

I sat there in the room as the police explained everything to her. I didn't really see the purpose in all of this. Knowing what or how it happened isn't going to change anything. The only thing it's doing is forcing Jess to relive this traumatic experience. I didn't want any graphic details of Jessica's accident in my head and I don't think that she needs it either. Jess hasn't gone into too many details about what actually happened and I didn't ask, because I didn't want to upset her.

"Do you remember anything about the accident?" one of the officers asked.

"I don't remember much about the crash. All I remember is the firemen pulling me out of the car afterward. I must've been hallucinating or something because I thought one of them was Brian," she told them.

"The firemen at the scene said that you had so many cuts on your body. If they hadn't gotten to you in time, you might've bled out," they told her.

"They saved me. I love firemen," she said, smiling over at me.

When I thought about Jess calling out for me while she was in trouble, I felt guilty for not being there to help rescue her. But I'm grateful that my fellow firemen were there to help save Jessica's life.

"Do you know what caused the accident? Was it something I did?" Jess asked.

I was afraid to know the answer to this question. I already felt guilty about my argument with Jess. I thought that maybe her being upset and distracted caused her to get into the accident.

"We watched the traffic cameras. There was a car swerving back and forth that crashed into you. But he was driving so erratically, we believe that he was drunk. The driver sped off, and we haven't been able to locate him, or the vehicle," the officer explained.

"A drunk driver..." Jess repeated. Tears began to form in her eyes. I squeezed her hand tightly. Being in a hospital brought had already brought back those memories of being in a hospital with her mother. But now knowing this extra detail, made the connection that much stronger.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Does that have some significance to you?" one of the officers asked.

"Her mother was killed in an accident, by a drunk driver," I explained to them.

Once the officers saw that Jess was getting emotional, they decided to leave the room. If they needed any more information, they could come back later. This didn't seem like the right time to be asking all these questions.

"Baby, please. Just talk to me. Tell me how you're feeling," I begged her.

Jess has a habit of building up her feelings, especially when it came to talking about her mom. If I was going to be her husband, I thought that we should be able to talk to each other about these kinds of things. If there was anyone we could talk to, it should be each other. I didn't think it was healthy to keep all these feelings inside.

"Guilty."

"Guilty for what? This accident wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself," I tried to tell her.