Chapter 8
In a Crash
About seven months later
Telling our parents went about as I expected it to go. There was a lot of crying, and even more screaming, which all led to hugging and practical conversations. Leilani’s mother even started to step up. All in all, it was going as well as it could have with how messy of a situation it was.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go to the doctor with you? You know I kind of like being there.” I sat on Leilani’s bed playing with one of the stuffed animals she had gotten at her baby shower a few weeks back.
“My mom seems really excited to go with me, and I think we need this.” She brushed her long hair, looking at me through the mirror over her desk.
“I know, but I want to hear the heartbeat one last time before our little prince is here.” I thumbed through my notebook, landing on the last page where we had scribbled a list of baby names. “You know we have to decide soon, right?”
“I’m still liking Ethan. Doesn’t it sound perfect? Ethan Steele?”
“I am still a fan of Brock.”
“Gross.”
“We’re never going to agree on this one, are we?”
“We still have Lucas, Oliver, Matthew, and Benjamin on the list.”
“But what if he is called Benji? That is just out of the fucking question. Anyway, we’ll talk about this later. I have to get to work since you volunteered me for extra shifts.” I shoved up from her bed, kissing her forehead. “Call the bar when you’re finished and I’ll duck out of work. Want to head to Lorenzo’s for pizza tonight?”
Leilani rubbed her stomach. “The baby thinks pizza is exactly what we should have for dinner.”
“Sounds like a plan, my love.”
* * *
If I had knownthat was going to be the last time I saw Leilani, I would have told her all the things I loved about her, how perfect she was, how complete she made my life. I would have forced her to let me go with her instead of giving in to letting her mother drive her to that damn appointment. I hated myself. My heart was broken. I was a shuddering mess.
“Mav, we don’t know for sure.” My dad was doing his best to calm me down, but we both knew Leilani was the fatality in that accident, and as we drove up to the crash, my worst fears were realized. I flew out of the passenger’s seat just in time to see Leilani’s mother, Claire, being put onto a stretcher. She was screaming her daughter’s name as the paramedics stabilized her head in a brace.
I dropped to my knees as the coroner’s van pulled up, and I saw there was a body bag. That was what the love of my life had become—a news story, zipped up in a black plastic bag on the side of the road.
How could everything change in a matter of hours?
I had just seen her, had just felt our baby kick, and now they were both gone.
“Mav, come on, son.” My father was pulling me to my feet yet again. “We have to get to Dane before someone else tells him.”
When we arrived, I used my key and burst into Dane’s house.
“Dane? You home?” I called up the stairs as I took them two at a time.
“Yeah man, up here!” I ripped open his door as he was toweling off from a shower. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked nonchalantly.
I was shaking, standing in the middle of my best friend’s room with my hands clenched so tight my knuckles were going white.
“You haven’t heard yet?” I panted.
“Heard what?” he asked with a concerned look on his face.
Right then, the doorbell rang. As he turned to head for the front door, I put my hand on his shoulder. “Wait, it’s better if you hear it from me.” I was trembling, my eyes flicking to everywhere else in the room other than Dane’s gaze.
“Hear what? You’re acting strange. Where’s Leilani?”