by S. E. Lund
A siren wailed in the distance and I knew that a rescue unit was on the way.
"What about Terry?" David managed, grimacing in pain.
"They're trying to get him out," I said. "The firefighters will be able to deal with it and they're on their way. You just focus on yourself, okay?"
"Okay," he said and tried to move his head.
"Don't move," I said and held his shoulders. "Just stay still until the EMTs arrive."
"Okay," he said, his voice weak. "Is Terry okay?"
"Don't worry about Terry," I said, because I really couldn't tell if Terry was even alive. He was trapped inside the crumpled front driver's side, wedged against the embankment. I hadn’t heard him say anything, so I assumed he was unconscious. He bore the brunt of the accident, and his side of the vehicle was the most damaged. "The ambulance is coming. Just relax. Focus on me."
The first vehicle to arrive was a firetruck. Out jumped two firefighters, who brought over a case that contained their lifesaving equipment. One came over and checked out David, while the second firefighter joined the other men, who were trying to reach Terry.
An ambulance arrived on scene and the two EMTs took over from the firefighter, who gave them some basic stats for David. They put on a neck brace, and got David up on a gurney, then slid him into an ambulance. I went with him in the back of the ambulance and sat on the jump seat beside the EMT while he checked David's vitals and dealt with the wound over his eye. On my way into the ambulance, I saw that they had taken a person out of the other car and had lain him on the ground and were administering CPR. It didn't look good, whoever he was. There was another passenger as well -- a woman with long black hair, a neck brace on, her face bloodied.
At least she appeared to be alive by the way the EMT was treating her.
We arrived at the emergency room of UCLA Santa Monica. The transition from the ambulance to the ER was smooth. I went inside the examination room with David, watching as they worked on him, assessing him for any broken bones and attaching ECG monitors to his chest so they could watch his stats. They took his blood pressure and measured his oxygen. A doc came in the room and did a neurological exam, then they took David for diagnostic imaging to check for any internal injuries. I waited in the examination room, then finally, alone, I checked my messages.
I expected to see one from Ella, but there wasn't anything. I checked my watch -- it would be nearly midnight back home.
I texted her to let her know I was okay.
JOSH: Sorry I haven't contacted you, but we were in a bad accident on Sunset Blvd and I'm at the hospital with David.
Her response was immediate.
ELLA: Oh, Josh -- are you okay? What happened? Is David all right?
JOSH: He's getting a CT scan right now. I think he's okay, but they're checking for internal injuries. I think David's band mate, Terry, is pretty bad. They were still trying to get him out of the SUV when we left for the ER.
ELLA: I'm so sorry. I was wondering what happened that you hadn't texted me, but I figured you were just out too late. I'll be thinking of David and your other friend.
JOSH: Thanks. I think David will be all right, physically. He doesn't appear to have broken bones, but you never know what's going on inside. I'll let you know how things are in the morning.
ELLA: I wish I was with you, so I could keep you company. It must be nerve wracking to be waiting to find out how he is.
JOSH: I wish you were here, too. It's Terry I'm more worried about.
ELLA: Oh, God, I hope he's okay...
JOSH: I realize it's really late there and you have to work tomorrow so I'll sign off for now and will text you in the a.m.
ELLA: Good night, Josh. *Hugs*
JOSH: Good night, Ella. *Hugs you back*
I felt a little better after texting with Ella but was worried when David still hadn't come back to the observation room in the ER half an hour later.
Finally, a nurse came over to me. "Mr. Macintyre, your brother was taken into surgery from the radiology department because they discovered internal bleeding and needed to do emergency surgery. I'll let you know more when we have any updates. There's a lounge with some recliners down the hall, in case you want to sleep."
I thanked the nurse and went to the hallway, finding a dim room with four recliners, each walled off by a sheet from the others. I took one recliner and spread the blanket over me, glad to have the place to myself.
My only hope was that when I woke, the news I got would be that David had come through surgery well and was in recovery.
I closed my eyes and tried to blank my mind, but sleep was a long time in coming. With Grant's recent suicide and now this accident, my emotions were all over the place. I realized that I had to get control over myself, so I could be there for David.
He needed me to be strong, so I pushed my sadness into a corner of my mind and tried think only about how to help my brother recover.
7
Ella
When I woke Wednesday morning, I saw a new text from Josh that he'd sent sometime during the night.
JOSH: David had emergency surgery due to internal injuries. I don't know what exactly they did but I'll let you know as soon as I find out. David's friend Terry is in critical condition. Not sure if he will survive the night. I'm sleeping in the hospital lounge on a recliner, with one of those hospital blankets on me. Talk later.
I sent a text right away.
ELLA: I'm so sorry about David needing surgery and about his friend Terry. How terrible. Let me know when you hear more.
I didn't hear back right away, so I assumed he was sleeping. It was only four a.m., in California.
It was terrible, but I was so glad Josh was fine. Relieved but at the same time, it sounded like the crash was bad enough that their friend Terry might not make it. I felt a sense of doom at the thought of how fragile we all were and that at any minute, it could all change. I was a nervous driver at the best of times, preferring public transit to private cars, and this just made me even happier to be in Manhattan and using the subway and busses instead of driving. I was even nervous in taxi cabs, but you had to take them sometimes.
I finished getting ready for work and then left my apartment, glancing around it one last time before I left. I was so lucky to be living in Chelsea in this tiny studio, with a sexy and very handsome new boyfriend, with a job I dreamed of.
The accident and the danger David's friend was in made me appreciate it even more.
Work was busy, and I met with Sharon to discuss some of the books I'd selected for review the previous week. My father and mother were going to pop up later to see me for lunch. My father insisted he wanted to see my office -- probably not really believing I had a job and an office and was really working, so I agreed. I'd show them around, introduce them to Sharon and then we'd go out.
When noon rolled around, I tidied up my desk in wait for them to arrive. Sure enough, at just after twelve o'clock, I got a call from the front desk that a nice couple was waiting for me, claiming to be my parents.
I went down to the main floor to meet them, and together, we rode up in the elevator. On the way up, the elevator stopped and on got Keith, who I had used as my stand-in for Josh when talking about meeting someone and dating. I used Keith's name just to shut my mother up, never thinking that they'd ever actually get to or want to meet him.
I cringed internally, regretting that I ever mentioned his name to my parents, but that was my life.
"Hey, Ella," Keith said and smiled. He glanced over my parents and I knew that he recognized my dad immediately. He probably already knew my story and so recognized my father. He was a hard man to forget with his eagle nose and salt-and-pepper hair.
"Hi," I said and felt my cheeks heat immediately.
"Governor Carter," Keith said and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Sir. Keith Johnson." They shook, and I saw that my father was pleased to be recognized in Manhattan of all places.
"Good to meet you, young m
an. This is my wife, Mary."
They gave each other a smile.
"Ella's told us all about you," she said. "You're the bicycle courier she ran into on her first day at work, if I recall the story correctly. Isn't that right, Ella?" she asked and turned to me, smiling, her eyes wide and pleased. "This is the Keith you mentioned? I thought he was a bicycle courier."
"She told you about how we met, did she?" Keith said and gave me a knowing smile. "I really want to work in publishing, so being a courier is just a side gig."
He winked at me. He must have figured out that I told my parents that I was dating him instead of Josh, not wanting them to know the truth.
Oh, God.
I half-wished that the elevator floor would open up and I could fall to the bottom of the shaft and end my misery, but he didn't say anything else and played along. He stepped closer to me and made some joke about my first day in Manhattan -- he obviously knew the story of how Josh and I almost ran into each other that first day and recounted it.
"And that's how we met," Keith said and looked down at me with mock affection. "A minor disaster that turned out to be one of the best days of my life so far."
He laughed, and my father did as well, but I could tell by my father's expression that he was assessing Keith carefully. Keith got off on his floor and before the doors closed, he turned before they did. "Nice to meet you. I'd offer to take you all out for a drink, but I've got late deliveries so maybe another time."
"Nice to meet you, Keith," my mother said and gave him a huge smile.
Finally, the elevator doors closed and my parents both turned to me.
"He seems like a nice young man," my mother said.
"Good manners," my father added.
"He's very nice."
We arrived on our floor a few moments later and I was never so glad to get off the elevator. After introducing them to everyone we passed in the hallway, I took them to my office. My father was suitably impressed.
"Good view," he said, peering down at the back alley far below my window.
"You can see for miles," I said and pointed out the Manhattan skyline.
"It's beautiful, dear," my mother said. "We're so proud of you, aren't we?"
She nudged my father with her elbow -- a move that wasn't lost on me.
"Oh, yes, of course we are," my father said. "I'm glad I met Keith. He wasn't dressed like a bicycle courier. You never told us he wanted to work in publishing."
"The company has an apartment and so he changes his clothes in it before he goes on a delivery run," I said, ad-libbing, hoping they didn't push to have dinner with him. I waved my hand. "Besides, we're just casually dating. Nothing serious."
My mother raised her eyebrows at that, and of course, I knew what she was thinking -- she was thinking my father would take that to mean 'casual sex', which was not at all what I meant.
"At least, we're not serious yet. We're both busy with work and going to be going to school next year, hopefully."
I smiled, hoping my father didn't push.
"I don't know if--" My father started to speak but my mother elbowed him, and he stopped. He actually turned to her and frowned, but she smiled at me like nothing happened.
"We'll spend time with him when you want us to, dear," she said. "We won't poke our noses into your private life."
"Thanks for understanding," I said. "We just started to see each other and so nothing's settled."
I didn't like to lie, but I also didn't want my father to know I was dating Josh. The very last thing I wanted was for Josh to feel like my father was going to judge him because of Joshua Sr's Actions decades ago. While I felt weak-kneed about Josh and knew I wanted to be with him, I had no idea what our future entailed.
I took them in to meet Sharon, and they were pleased when Sharon told them how happy she was to have me working for her.
"Ella saved my life," she said, her hand over her heart. "I'm serious. I had no editorial assistant for two weeks and the manuscripts were piling up. I was afraid I'd have nothing to show for our big editorial meeting, but Ella came through and found us some really promising books."
Sharon turned to me and smiled, and it made me really happy that I was actually appreciated. I didn't mind the long hours when she was so positive about my performance.
"Maybe you could pay her one of these days," my father said, rather gruffly. He was smiling, but his tone was disapproving.
Sharon didn't bite at my father's bait. "Absolutely. I hope she'll stay on part-time when her internship is over and work for us as a permanent employee once she's done her Master's."
"I don't know why she wants to do her Master's degree," my father said. "Seems she could do the job without it."
"Daddy," I said, gently chiding him. "I want to get an MFA so I can teach one day if I want to. I want to write. You know that."
"I do, but it seems you're doing a good job as an editorial assistant. You could be an editor one day. Do you need an MA for that?" he asked Sharon.
She shook her head. "No, she doesn't, but it wouldn't hurt. I'm sure you can understand that credentials help when we're picking employees. If she has an MA, especially if she has editing experience, I expect she could get a job working for any publishing house."
My father nodded as if that satisfied him. He really didn't think I should go and do my MA. I was surprised but I expect he thought I should have been married to his former attorney instead of dating a bicycle courier and working for free.
Yes, he'd fired Jerkface, but I knew he really still wished we were together. Maybe even that I should forgive him his indiscretion.
Not on your life.
"Did you hear that Josh was in an accident and his brother was injured?" Sharon said before we left her office. Of course, I felt extremely awkward about her mentioning Josh. My father's ears pricked up at the mention of his name.
"Really?" I said, trying to sound surprised. "That's terrible."
"Yes, it is. We're lucky that Josh wasn't injured. Just a bit scraped up but he's fine. His brother broke some bones. I guess their friend is not going to make it." She shook her head and clucked her tongue.
"Joshua Macintyre?" my father said, stepping closer to Sharon's desk.
"Yes," Sharon said. "Do you know him?"
"I knew his father," my father replied dryly.
"Were you friends? You must have been surprised to learn of his death."
"Not really friends," my father said, and his tone indicated he didn't feel bad at all. "His news station did some hit pieces on my business partner years back. We had a history, shall we say." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.
I could tell Sharon got the picture that my father didn't like Joshua Macintyre Sr.
She nodded and smiled nervously.
"Nice to meet you," my mother said, pulling my father away. "I'm glad to know Ella is doing well as an editorial assistant. She was really excited to get the position." She gave Sharon a big smile.
"Nice to meet you, too," Sharon said.
I managed to push my parents out of Sharon's office and gave her a meaningful look as I closed her door. "I'll talk to you later."
She nodded, and I herded my parents back to the elevator, glad that we had to leave for our lunch date.
"Have you met Macintyre?" my father asked, turning to me, his arms crossed. I could tell he was spoiling for a fight at the mere thought I worked for his arch nemesis's son.
"Yes, but he's now the CEO of MBS and he doesn't have much to do with publishing. He hired someone to manage it for him from what I understand. Last I heard was that he bought The Chronicle and is trying to revitalize it."
"What's he like, dear?" my mother asked. "He's handsome, from his picture. His father was quite the looker when he was younger."
"He's attractive, I guess," I said in as nonchalant a way as I could manage.
"He's ex-Army, or so I read," my father said, adjusting his tie and checking himself out in the reflection in the mirrored
walls of the elevator.
"Really?" I said, pretending that I had no idea about Josh's past.
My mother reached over and lad her hand on my arm. "Next time we're in town, we'll have to get together with you and Keith. Have dinner together."
"If we're still seeing each other," I said with a nervous laugh.
"He's cute," she replied and gave me a wink. "I'm glad to see that you're making new friends. I was afraid you'd be lonely all by yourself, what with Steph staying in Concord and you and Derek breaking up. You're on the rebound, so keep that in mind when you're dating." She nodded meaningfully.
"I know, Mom," I said and gave her arm a squeeze. "I'll be extra careful not to get involved with anyone too soon."
"Speaking of Derek," my mother said, her eyes wide. "Did you know that he broke up with that piece of trash he had the affair with? Bambi or whatever her name was?"
"Bunni," I said derisively. "With an 'i'."
"Yes, that's right. Bunni with an 'i'. Honestly, I can't believe how bad women are to fellow members of our sex."
"I can't believe how members of the opposite sex cheat on the women they claim to love," I said with a shrug. Although I didn't love Jerkface anymore, the betrayal still stung. I don't think there could be a worse form of betrayal than by the man or woman you thought loved you and were planning on marrying.
At least Josh and I had that in common...
"Both sexes cheat," my father said derisively. "It takes two to tango..."
"It does," I replied and finally, we arrived on the main floor and left the building.
I was so glad to be out of Macintyre Publishing, hoping I didn't run into Keith again or be forced to lie any more than I already had to my parents.
I loved them, but I would be glad when they returned to New Hampshire. Soon enough, I'd have to come clean about dating Josh, but I didn't want to get into it until I had a better idea whether we would stay together.
I wanted to -- I felt giddy whenever I thought about him, but I'd been burned and too recently to have much faith.
