The Last Exhale by Julia Blues

Author:Julia Blues
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Strebor

38

SYDNEY

My heart’s racing as I speed through traffic like I’m being pursued in a high-speed chase. Rachel didn’t say much in her message. Just said our husbands had been in a car accident and that she was on her way to the hospital.

I’m doing my best not to panic as my thoughts race faster than the odometer. What were Michael and Eric doing together? He was supposed to be picking Kennedy up from school and EJ from daycare. They were to grab pizza and meet me back at the house. Rachel didn’t mention anything about the kids.

Soon as I pull into a parking space, my feet hit the ground running for the Emergency Room. I hit the nurse’s desk so hard feels like my kneecaps crumble. “I was told my husband was brought here.”

The nurse barely makes eye contact when she asks for his name.

“Eric, Eric Holmes. Are my kids here? Kennedy and Eric Jr.?”

“Sydney.” A hand grasps my shoulder.

I turn around, see my friend standing there with red-rimmed eyes and an even redder nose.

“The kids weren’t with them.”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know.” A tear drops from her eye.

“Okay, okay.” I pull her into me, give her a warm embrace. My kids’ location isn’t her concern, especially while her husband is lying up in a hospital bed. Though I have no idea where my kids are at this moment, I’m relieved to know they weren’t involved in the accident. At least that much I do know. “Let’s not worry about them right now. How are the guys?”

She dabs at the corners of her eyes with her fingertips. “Michael’s in stable condition. They’re bandaging him up now to be released.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know.”

By the slight smile in her lips, I can tell she’s relieved as well, but her eyes tell a different story. “Eric’s, umm…”

“Eric’s what?” My heart slows to a turtle’s pace.

“He was, umm, he was unconscious when they got there. I don’t know anything else.”

“What do you mean unconscious? What the heck happened? I don’t understand this.”

She grabs my hand. “Let’s go outside.” I follow her eyes to the uniformed officers standing in the corner talking with a young lady, notepads and pens in hand.

Something’s not adding up. I let her hand go, but follow her out the door.

“The accident is under investigation. Michael called me at the scene frantic when Eric wouldn’t wake up. They were tailing some guy they thought was guilty of a crime. Michael said the driver slowed and was pulling over to the side of the highway when an eighteen-wheeler came out of nowhere. The truck jackknifed, clipping the backend of the suspect’s car. Michael tried to avoid hitting the truck, but there was no way around it. They slammed sideways into the trailer.”

I feel my knees buckle.

Tears flood from Rachel’s eyes when her attention is drawn to something behind me. “Michael.” She leaves me and tends to her bandaged-up husband.

I follow behind. Rub him on his shoulder.

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