“I’m going to get the doctor,” she said. “Please have a seat.”
Samantha, Kevin and Jake stepped away from the counter. Chloe couldn’t. She couldn’t move. She stared at the double doors that led to the back and wondered how fast they could catch her if she just went inside. Would she be able to see him first before they dragged her kicking and screaming back into the hall? She suddenly felt Samantha’s warm hand on her arm and she pulled her eyes up from the highly polished linoleum floor and looked at her.
“Let’s step over here out of the way,” she said softly.
Chloe could feel the hot tears already beginning to roll down her cheeks.
Stop it! She told herself. It’s not time to cry. We don’t know anything. They could both be fine.
Her mind went back to the vision of that twisted and burnt metal on the back end of that tow truck. If either of them walked away from this, it would be nothing short of a miracle.
“Mrs. Whitemore and Mr. Stark?”
This wasn’t the doctor. It was a police officer. Chloe wondered what he was doing here. Was he that worried about insurance information that he’d intrude on their collective tragedy?
“I’m Officer Daniels. I was first on scene of the accident.”
“What happened?” Samantha asked, still holding back the tears that were now swimming thickly in her eyes.
“It seems that Mr. Stark who was driving tried to take the curve too fast. He pulled back to keep from hitting the car that was coming up the hill head on.”
“Derek wouldn’t do that.” It was the first time that Jake spoke. Chloe saw Kevin put his hand on his older son’s shoulder as he said, “What about skid marks? Maybe the other car crossed over their line.”
“There are plenty of skid marks going west,” the officer said. He paused there and finally Jake said, “And?”
“Going east in the direction Mr. Stark and Mr. Whitemore were, there were none.”
“None?” Kevin said, furrowing his brow. “How can that be? Did Derek just not see him in time to hit the brakes?”
“I’m telling you,” Jake said, “Derek would not drive fast, especially when he had someone else in the car. He was devastated after...” he stopped there and looked at Samantha.
“It’s okay, Jake. When Sarah died he was devastated and he blamed himself. I’m sure that he wasn’t speeding either.”
Jakes eyes landed on Chloe then and for a few seconds he gave her a puzzled look. He obviously didn’t know about her or her resemblance to Sarah. Chloe couldn’t help but think that this was a hell of a place for him to find out.
“Did you check the brakes?” Chloe asked.
“No ma’am, we haven’t had time to do any of that yet. But, we will. Do you have reason to believe there was an issue with the brakes?”
Chloe looked at Kevin. He understood at once what she was concerned about and said, “Officer Daniels, I’m a criminal attorney and I’m also Derek Stark’s father. I have a hunch...but that’s all it is. Please be sure those brakes are checked out thoroughly...in the lab. Make sure every surface that is left of that car is dusted for prints and make sure that protocol is followed from start to finish. That last part is the most important, okay? Make sure it is all done with the strictest protocol so that if this case goes to court, all of the evidence will hold up and will be admissible.”
The officer raised an eyebrow but he nodded and said, “I’m sorry about your son, sir. You can be certain that we will follow protocol.” He turned back to Chloe and said, “Miss...?”
“Green, Chloe Green.”
“Miss Green, how are you involved in this?”
Samantha put her arm protectively around Chloe’s shoulders and said, “She’s my daughter...Trevor Whitemore is her father.”
Chloe could tell poor Samantha was hanging on by a thread that might snap at any moment. She needed to see Trevor and A.S.A.P.
She turned to look back towards the nurse’s station and caught Jake’s eye again. He was still staring at her, looking even more confused now. Chloe saw the nurse they’d talked to and said to Samantha, “I’ll be right back, okay?”
Samantha nodded and watched Chloe walk to the nurse’s desk and said, “Excuse me. You were going to check on my father...Trevor Whitemore?”
“Yes Miss Whitemore, the doctor will be out in just a few moments.”
“Thank you.” Chloe started back towards Samantha and she saw a tall young man in a pair of blue scrubs and a long white coat come through the doors from the back.
“I’m looking for Mrs. Whitemore!”
Samantha started towards him, grabbing Chloe’s arm on the way over.
“I’m Dr. Grant.”
Chloe’s first thought was that he looked too young to be a doctor. He couldn’t be much older than her. How could someone who'd been alive less than a quarter of a century be qualified to handle life and death situations?
“Let’s step back this way for just a moment,” he told them.
Chloe could feel Samantha shaking underneath her touch. Her own stomach was churning. She needed to see them both. She needed to see Derek alive and breathing... They followed the doctor into a small “quiet room.”
He invited them to sit down and he said, “Mr. Whitemore was lucky, considering the extent of the accident. He sustained a minor concussion, some contusions from the broken glass, and a broken femur. We’ve done x-rays and it doesn’t look like anything else is broken. He was unconscious but only for a short time. We’ll be keeping a close eye on his mental status and if all looks well in the morning, he’ll need surgery to set the bone in his leg.”
Samantha put her hand on her chest and turned her head into Chloe’s shoulder. “Oh thank God!” she said. She allowed herself a second of joy over the news that her husband was going to be okay and then she turned back to the young doctor and said, “What about my son-in-law?”
He looked from her to Chloe and said, “Are you Mr. Stark’s wife?”
“No,” Chloe said before Samantha had to answer any embarrassing questions. “He was married to my sister who is deceased now.”
“I need to speak with his family first...”
“We are his family,” she said through gritted teeth. Chloe’s composure was hanging by nothing more than a wisp of a thread. “Please, can’t you just tell us if he’s okay?”
“I was told his father and brother are here. I’m sorry, but I have to speak to them first.” The doctor was young enough that he at least looked like remaining cold and professional was hard for him. Feeling sicker by the second, she nodded and said, “Can my mother and I see my father?”
“You can go back one at a time,” he said. “The other one can wait here, or in the lobby.”
Chloe turned to Samantha and said, “Just tell him I’m here, okay? Keep me posted. I’ll wait in the lobby in case Kevin gets any word about Derek.”
Samantha hugged her so tightly then that she nearly cut off her oxygen. “I’m so glad that you’re here.”
Chloe didn’t say anything but she wondered if Samantha...and Trevor would feel the same when they found out it was her obsessed ex-boyfriend that had likely set this all in motion.
––––––––
C
hloe sat alone in the waiting room. Samantha was with Trevor and Jake and Kevin had gone back with the doctor to talk about Derek. The white clock on the white wall ticked like the timer on a bomb. She wished that she could turn it back and that she and Derek would be transported back underneath that tree. She would be in his arms and he would be safe.
Instead, each tick dragged her forward, helpless and anxious. Her heart seemed to be trying to keep time with the clock as it pounded against the cartilage and bone in her chest. Dread sat like an invisible demon on her chest, making it almost impossible to breathe. She could feel the sweat as it trickled a path down her back and along the sides of her face. She was powerless to stop the tremor in her hands or the way her legs shook and felt as if they were molded from Jello. The nausea came and went in waves and her head felt like it was packed with thick fog. All she could do was wait and it was making her want to kill something...or someone with her bare hands.
“Chloe,” she looked up to see Kevin and Jake coming out of the back. Jake’s eyes were red and swollen. Kevin looked all but stripped of his own composure.
“Is he okay?”
Kevin looked at her with the tortured eyes of a father who was being forced to say things out loud about his son that he didn’t want to be true.
“No. He’s not okay.” His voice caught then and he looked like he was on the brink of tears. Jake touched his father’s shoulder and Kevin took a deep breath.
“He’s being prepped right now for a life flight to New York Presbyterian Hospital. He’s in a coma, Chloe. They say that he has a severe concussion and there is swelling in his brain. He’s not breathing on his own because of the pressure in there. He has several broken bones and a ruptured spleen that will have to be removed. They can’t help him as well here as they can at Presbyterian where there is a trauma unit. Jake and I have the helicopter here. As soon as the life flight leaves with Derek, we’ll be picked up and going over. You’re welcome to go with us, if you like.”
Chloe felt the slap of despair strike her with brutal ferocity. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to cry and scream and rail against God, but more than anything on earth, she wanted to see Derek. She was smart enough to know that if she gave in to her feelings and let them consume her that might not be an option.
“Yes, please. I just need to make sure Samantha and Trevor are okay first.”
“You can do that now. Life flight will be landing in five minutes and then it will take my copter another ten or fifteen to get clearance to land. Ask someone to direct you to the heli-pad when you’re finished. We’ll meet you there.”
Jake still hadn’t said a single word to her. His blue eyes seemed to just be soaking up everything around them and every interaction Chloe had with his father. If she hadn’t been so worried about Derek and so disinterested in practically everything else, it may have been unnerving. But today, she just didn’t care.
“Thank you Mr. Stark,” she said. She went over to the nurses’ station and said, “My name is Chloe Green. My father is Trevor Whitemore,” she repeated again. “My mother is back there with him. I need to talk to her and it’s urgent. Can you ask her to come out as soon as she can, please?”
The nurse nodded at her and Chloe heard her call to the back and repeat Chloe’s request. She paced a four foot square around the front of the counter until she heard the swoosh of the doors and felt a wisp of cooler air on her face.
“Chloe, is everything okay? Did you talk to Kevin about Derek?”
Samantha saw them then; Father and son, holding each other, trying to fend off the grief and anxiety and trying to call back up the hope.
“Oh no. Chloe, what is it? What did the doctor say?”
Chloe repeated what Kevin had told her and then she said, “Kevin asked me if I wanted to go with them...”
“Of course you’re going! Trevor is going to be fine and he has me here with him. Go!”
Chloe smiled and suddenly the dam broke. The tears came in big, guffawing sobs and Samantha hugged her close and just let her cry. She’d never been so afraid of losing anyone or anything in her life.
What would she do without him?
It hadn’t even been two months since he’d come into her life and suddenly she had no idea. The sadness flowed ebbing through her body and spread through her veins, deadening her mind like a poison. She couldn’t at this point imagine how life could go on if she lost him. It was like a black mist had settled down on top of her and was trying to suck her spirit right out of her body. The world seemed lost to her and the only thing she knew of that would bring it back into focus would be knowing that Derek would be okay. When she was able to control the sobs that had taken hold of her body long enough to get air into her lungs, she asked Samantha, “Would it be okay if I saw Trevor quickly before I go?”
“Yes,” Samantha told her with a sad smile. “He would love that.”
So, armed with Samantha’s pass, Chloe went back to see her father. She came to the glass cubicle that was marked with a 202 on the door. She could see him, lying in the bed against the white sheets. His face was badly bruised, cut and beginning to swell in places. He had his eyes closed and a cannula in each of his nostrils pumping oxygen into his body. There was an IV needle in his arm and the tubing ran up to a machine that was pumping fluids and medications into him. There were three monitors on the wall behind him that measured his vital signs. It was relieving to Chloe to be able to see him for herself and witness the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. She hated to disturb him, but she couldn’t leave without letting him know that she was here.
She wiped her face one last time on her sleeve. She could hide her tears, but there was no way to hide the sadness that had engulfed her. She pulled open the heavy glass door and Trevor blinked open one eye. The other was cut and swollen so badly that she doubted he could open it at all.
“Hi,” he said, trying to smile.
That made her begin to cry all over again. Here he was in so much pain and he wanted to smile for her. She did her best to stop the tears but it was like she had a leak and no matter what she did, they wouldn’t stop falling.
“Don’t cry,” he said, “Come here.”
Chloe went over next to the bed. He looked so pale against the white of the sheets and pillow. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She opened her mouth and what came out was caught between a laugh and a cry and she choked on it. When she recovered she said, “I’m supposed to be asking you that.”
He smiled again. It was crooked and it looked like it hurt. “Didn’t you know that fathers are made out of steel? You can bend us, but we never break.”
Chloe dropped down into the plastic chair next to the bed and lay her head down next to him. “I’m so sorry for all of this,” she said.
Trevor picked up the hand that had been plundered with IV needles and stroked her hair. “It’s not your fault, Chloe. You can’t keep the world on your shoulders. Now that you have us, let us shoulder some of it for you, okay?”
She looked up at him. It was her fault and she knew it, but now was not the time to tell him. “I came to see how you were and tell you that I’m going with Kevin to be with Derek at Presbyterian.”