Page 9 of Sweet Tooth
This year was going to be different. Not the same old bullshit of me not being able to give Jess the kind of life she deserved. Not this time.
The walk to our car wasn’t easy. With the hail pelting down and the wind bearing down upon us, it was all I could do to squint through the onslaught and guide Jess through.
As soon as we got there, we collapsed inside, slamming the doors behind us.
“Thank God,” Jess said, still shivering.
“Let’s hit the road,” I said, turning the key in the ignition.
As soon as I started backing up the car, a wave of dizziness swept over me and I had to shake my head to clear it. I realized that I really hadn’t had that much to eat and the straight alcohol I’d drank was hitting my system hard. Not to mention, the roads were starting to ice over.
I knew I shouldn’t drive but didn’t see another option at the moment. I would just have to be super careful.
I put the car into Drive and pulled out onto the street, sliding a bit before the tires caught the slick pavement.
I gripped my hands on the steering wheel, looking over at Jess, eye closed, her beautiful face unaware.
You can do this.
And so I did. I blasted on the heat in the car and turned onto the main road.
The roads themselves weren’t overly busy, most people probably wisely choosing to stay wherever they were at. Beside me, Jess was sleeping soundly, thankfully no longer shivering.
I allowed myself a little smile. We still had the rest of the night. All I had to do was gett us home in one piece and we’d be set.
I was feeling a bit less fuzzy and getting closer to home, though the going was pretty tough. Jess stirred beside me. “Zane,” she said sleepily. “Love you.”
She leaned over to kiss me.
“Babe,” I said, trying to keep my eyes on the road and failing.
Suddenly the squeal of brakes and the shriek of a horn hit me too late. I looked up in time to see headlights coming straight at us.
3
Zane
I awoke on the cold ground to a wailing siren.
Red and blue lights spangled the sky as footsteps pounded over. Some woman was yelling, He swerved into my lane!”
Oh shit. I’d fucked up.
I jolted upright. Jess.
Beside me, the car was a mangled mess.
“JESS!” I screamed.
I got up and crawled over to the passenger side. Jess was slumped in her seat, her face slack and white, a line of blood running down her cheek from a nasty gash on her forehead. I tried to yank the door open and get her out, but the twisted metal made it too hard.
The police and EMS were next to me now. The cops pulled me aside as the EMS worked to get Jess out of the car.
“Jess!” I yelled again, but she didn’t move. Was she even breathing?
“Son,” the cop said, though I didn’t look at him. “Let the paramedics do their job.”
I watched helplessly as the firemen used the Jaws of Life to get the door open and the EMT’s carefully extracted Jess, placing her body on a stretcher and moving toward the ambulance quickly.
“She needs help!” I yelled. “Please.”
Inside the ambulance, there were machines and people everywhere.
“She’s alive,” one of them said after a minute.
“I’m not leaving her,” I said as I climbed in back with her.
The drive to the hospital was a blur. The paramedics took vitals and made notes, none of which made much sense to me. I couldn’t unglue my eyes from my Jess, my girl…
Her forehead had an ugly gash, her face badly bruised. And she still hadn’t woken up.
“Her injuries,” I asked the paramedics. “Do you think she’s going to be okay?”
“We won’t know for sure until we get her to the hospital.”
“You’re lucky, boy,” another one chimed in. “The engine block was almost in your lap. Another foot and…”
He didn’t have to say the rest.
Even now, I didn’t know whether she’d wake up ok, brain injured, or worse?
A hand on my shoulder. “We’re going to do everything we can for her.”
“It’s all my fault,” I said miserably.
In all the panic, I realized they hadn’t made me take a breathalyser. Not that it mattered now.
Nothing mattered if Jess died.
As the ambulance sliced down street after street, it was clear to me.
This was, really, all my fault. If I hadn’t been such a broke idiot, I would’ve been able to afford an Uber for me and my girl. Hell, I would’ve taken her out to the best restaurant in town like I’d wanted to instead of going to that damn party.
But no. Once again, Jess was getting the short end of the stick… because of me.
By the time we got to the hospital, I ran alongside her stretcher like a ghost. People were disappearing and reappearing. The lights were bright. Everything smelled clean, too clean, like antiseptic and death scrubbed away. Sick people hobbled past.
