Page 75 of Fall From Grace

Might need to come home. Your dad’s not happy at all. I’m afraid he’s gonna come get you himself at this rate.

“Dad’s called a billion times,” I told Noah as he started the Jeep and pulled out of the driveway. “I’m gonna call Mom.” Only she didn’t answer her cell phone and I was a little nervous of the idea of Dad answering the house phone if I called.

My phone lit up with Dad’s cell phone. “It’s my dad,” I said nervously.

“Answer it,” he told me. “Don’t worry, I’ll be with you. We can get chewed out together.”

I smiled and answered. “Hello?”

“Grace.” Something was very wrong with his voice. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you… You need to come to the hospital,” his voice was choked up and my stomach felt every bit of it. “It’s your mom.”

_____

I felt like I would throw up the entire drive to the hospital. Noah kept a hold of my hand as we drove in silence. We didn’t walk, we ran into the hospital and didn’t stop until we were in the ER and Dad was there with his hands on his lap looking down at the tiled floor.

He looked up when he heard us, his gaze landed on Noah. “Where’s Mom? What happened?” I asked.

“She wrecked her car… Apparently, she lost control and hit a tree.”

My chest was killing me. “Have you seen her? How is she?”

“She’s in surgery. They took her back right away. I haven’t heard anything else.”

“Why was she out?” I asked him.

His eyes darkened toward Noah. “She was going to get you.”

I shuddered. “That doesn’t make sense, she knew Noah was taking me home. She didn’t even know where he lived.”

“You weren’t supposed to even see him! I told you no! And you weren’t answering your phone!” he yelled and I stepped back.

“I left it in the Jeep.” When Noah had pulled me out into the rain, I had forgotten about it. That was the truth.

“Leave,” he said to Noah.

“At least let me wait to know how Allison is,” Noah told him.

Someone stepped out of the door, he wiped his face with his sleeve as if to hide his exhaustion as he approached. Dad got up…

Only to fall right to his knees.

I didn’t hear what the doctor was saying. It was like a shield had gone up to prevent my ears from hearing his words. I stumbled back, hands caught me and held me up.

More words. More words. I didn’t want to hear them.

There was no escaping the ugly that came and stole everyone’s happiness.

_____

Everyone came. So many. Mom was loved. She didn’t look right lying in that casket. Nothing about any of this was. It didn’t even look like her. I was convinced this person wasn’t her… But apparently, this was as pretty as they could make her after the wreck… destroyed her.

The numbness that had passed over me since the hospital was frightening, even to me. My insides were screaming. I was drowning in my thoughts and these feelings, but none of it would make its way to the surface. Noah was there, always, never wanting to leave my side until I made him… Even then, he looked as if he wanted to deny my cold, hard stare and stay.

I kept my phone in my hand and I’d stare at her last text, telling me to come home. Then I felt the piercing in my chest and wondered if she was truly coming to get me when she had no idea where I was… Or did she?

Dad was a mess, and I wondered if maybe he was the reason why I didn’t do the same. It was scary the way he wouldn’t look at me or how he didn’t ask when I was coming home or offer me a ride home from the funeral home. He completely ignored me when I wanted nothing more than to cry with him.

Noah tried to comfort me during those nights but I couldn’t stand to be touched. I just wanted to be alone. I could feel it… Noah’s fear. It was in the way he held onto me stronger when I pulled away, in the way he kissed my forehead once more after I had just shoved him away, in the way I pushed him out of the house every night during the funeral when he wanted to be there for me.

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