Tallulah Lights flashed everywhere. Ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks blocked the street, while cars were parked lining the street, filling the grocery parking lot and the post office. It seemed most of the town was here. Outside watching. We couldn’t see much. But we all knew. That Porsche was the most expensive thing in this town. It belonged to one person. We hadn’t known the passenger had been Nash until Ryker showed up on the scene. His truck had come to a screeching halt, and he’d jumped out running. Ryker had been let through the barricade. Then Nash’s father and mother had also shown up together. His mother crying as his father held her close to his side. They were then let through. But that had been it. No one else. So we all waited. No one had shown up for Haegan. Did that mean he was okay? Was it Nash who was injured? His family wasn’t leaving. Sirens were still going off, the lights still flashing. But the onlookers were silent. I had been leaving school when I drove up on it. The ambulances were already here then. I hadn’t known who or what had happened. It had been after I parked that I saw the Porsche and the old model Lincoln Continental that were smashed together. The Porsche suffering much more damage than the older larger car. I heard others talking. It belonged to Mrs. Wise, the Baptist minister’s wife. The time seemed to pass so slowly as I waited. For something. Any news.
When my mother’s arm slipped around my waist, I jumped. I hadn’t seen her drive up. “You okay?” she asked me, kissing the side of my head. “No. But how I am isn’t what’s important.” “Yes, Tallulah, it is.” I started to argue when we heard it. The sirens came back to life. An ambulance was moving. The road cleared immediately as everyone watched it speed off toward the nearest hospital. Cops were holding people back. The next car that arrived was let inside the secure area. Mom squeezed me tightly. She inhaled quick and loud. “What is it?” I asked, feeling my panic on the verge of exploding. I’d been holding it together, but something about the look on her face made me fear that the world as I knew it was about to change forever. “It’s okay,” she said, but her face didn’t echo her words. It was fearful, worried, pained. “Mom, who was that?” I demanded, pulling away from her. She turned her gaze to me. Unshed tears glistened there. “Norton Hill. The coroner.” My stomach turned, and I became ill. St epping over into the grass, I bent at the waist and began to heave. Everything I’d eaten that day came back up. I felt my mom’s hand on my back and heard the sob from her mouth. This was all a bad dream. One I wanted to wake up from now. Right this instant. I hated this. My knees felt weak, and I stood up, taking the tissue Mom held out for me and wiping my face.
“We don’t know who he’s here for,” she said, but it didn’t matter. Did it? Someone was dead. Someone didn’t make it. I wanted to believe that in my heart I would feel the same no matter whose life had been taken in that crash. But I knew the truth. I didn’t want it to be Nash. I tried to breathe and couldn’t. “There’s Ryker,” she said, nodding her head as he walked back to his truck. I wanted to run to him. To ask him about Nash. But I was terrified. I took a st ep in his direction, and he lifted his gaze to meet mine. He paused and nodded. “He’s okay. He was the one in the ambulance.” Those words. I had stood here almost an hour not knowing. Living in a state of hope and fear. Afraid my nightmare was going to get worse. But he was okay. Nash was okay. My knees started to give out then, and my mother was there. I fell into her arms, and a sob broke free as I let out all the emotion I’d been holding in. I sobbed in relief that I hadn’t lost him. That he wasn’t gone. His life was here. I should have cried for whoever didn’t make it. I should have prayed for their family. But in that moment all I could do was cry tears of relief. I heard my mother thank him. I couldn’t say anything. She didn’t ask who the coroner was here for. It was a truth that no one wanted to face. “They’re taking him to Mercy. It’s twenty minutes further but he’s stable, and they are better equipped if he needs any surgery,” Ryker said.
He was stable. That made me cry harder. “Thank you. Once she’s calm, we will drive that way,” Mom r eplied. “I understand,” he r eplied. “Ryker! Are Nash and Haegan okay?” a female voice called out. “Nash is” was his response, then I heard a car door close. His engine started, and I stood there, slowly letting that sink in. He hadn’t said Haegan was okay. Pulling back, I looked at the scene now becoming clearer as the other ambulance left. The lights weren’t on, but it had a body inside. “Ohmygod! He didn’t say Haegan was,” the girl screamed hysterically. I ignored her. That dramatic response was meant to draw attention to herself. “Do you think he’s... dead?” I asked my mother in a whisper. I hated even saying the words. She didn’t look like she wanted to answer that. “I don’t know.” “The other ambulance left without their lights on,” I pointed out. “We don’t know about Mrs. Wise, either. Or if someone was in her car.” I saw a family standing together crying. An older man I recognized as the Baptist church minister held a woman and three young kids close as they all sobbed. He looked sad. Broken. I didn’t need to be told why. The scene was obvious. Heartbreakingly so.
“I don’t think she lived,” I said, the words heavy in my chest. “Me either,” Mom agreed. The family had lost someone today. Someone they loved very much. What if I had lost someone? What if that had been my mom’s car? “Haegan Baylor is gone! No!” a girl wailed behind us. Others joined her. “Let me drive,” Mom said as she took my arm, and we walked back to her car. “We can come get yours later.” I didn’t want to drive right now so I made no argument. Blakely was doubled over, sobbing in a group of friends. There had been no word on Haegan yet. But the town seemed to already believe he was gone. I remembered the night I met him at the game. He’d been annoying and full of himself. But he was important to a lot of people. He had a family, friends, fans. All of who would mourn him. A void would be left in his family’s life, one that could never be filled. Tears filled my eyes again as I climbed into my mother’s car. This time for the loved ones left behind.