Page 19 of The Island

“Oh my God!” he said. “What have I done!”

“It wasn’t your fault. She came out of nowhere.”

“I honked the horn! Didn’t I? My God. She didn’t even look around!”

“There was nothing you could do, Tom.” She stood and tried to take his hand but he brushed her off.

“Is she dead? Are you sure?” Tom asked.

“She’s dead. She was killed instantly.”

“CPR! I’m a trained…let me see…we can…shit, look at her!”

“I thought so too. But I’ve done that. It’s too late. Tom, look, there’s nothing you could have done. You braked as soon as—”

“If we’d had the new model. The one I asked for. The accident-avoidance radar would have braked the car for us. That’s the one I wanted. I told you that!”

“I know.”

“It was you and the kids. We weren’t supposed to come here! I wanted to work on my damn speech!”

Tom’s fists were clenched. His eyes were wild, staring; he looked almost unhinged.

He didn’t get like this often but she’d seen it once or twice. His rage had taken her by surprise. She knew she had to snap him out of it quickly.

He had six inches on her. She stood on tiptoes and reached up and put her hands behind his neck and tilted his head down to look her in the eyes.

“Tom!” she said, snapping her fingers in front of his face.

“I had no idea there would be people on bicycles in this heat! Who rides a bicycle when it’s a hundred degrees? I was looking for koalas in the trees. They should have told us. Did you see any speed-limit signs? I didn’t see one.”

“There were no signs, Tom. She came out of nowhere.”

“I can save her! There’s always hope. I did rotations in the ER during my residency!” Tom said and got down on his knees.

She knew there was no way he was going to believe she was dead until he saw it for himself.

She looked up and down the road. There were no cars. No one was coming.

Yet.

She examined the Porsche. Both wheels were in the ditch, but it was a narrow trench, less than a foot across and only two feet deep. They should be able to get going again pretty quickly. They would almost certainly have to push the car out, though. Important to lighten the weight. She would drive and Tom would have to push. The kids could help. Owen was strong, and Olivia, with those long legs, could add to the leverage.

Tom had begun CPR.

She let him try it for a minute.

“It’s not working,” he said.

“She’s dead, Tom.”

“I was driving too fast. That guy spooked me. And I was looking out the window and driving too fast. We have to call the police. An ambulance,” he said.

“It’s too late for all that now. There’s nothing anyone can do.”

Tom stood and tried to get a signal on his phone.

Heather walked to the Porsche, opened the hatchback, and rummaged for the beach blanket. She grabbed it and checked on the kids, who were still fumbling with the airbags and their seat belts. She walked back to Tom and draped the blanket over the woman.

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