Page 59 of The Lady on Esplanade
A fetid stench rose from the car’s floorboards and blasted from the air vents.Bile rose in my throat.
“What the…?”
I didn’t hear whatever Cooper was about to say.A movement in the backseat caught my peripheral vision and forced an involuntary glance in the rearview mirror.A man sat in the middle of the backseat, his face obscured by a shadow that oozed out of him like black tar.I felt his eyes looking back at me, his gaze laser hot on my skin.And then he smiled.Wet lips and yellowed teeth were all I could see before Cooper shouted.I jerked my face forward.A concrete barrier loomed in front of the car.It wasn’t a deer, but the car had airbags.With my hands firmly planted on the steering wheel, I kept the car heading straight toward the immovable concrete.Then the only sensation I was aware of was hearing the sounds of metal crumpling and my own screams following me into deep, dark blackness.
CHAPTER 18
I woke up to an overpowering aroma of flowers that couldn’t quite erase the smell of bleach and antiseptic.Squinting at blinding overhead fluorescent lights, I was aware of soft conversation around me and of the sound of metal chair legs screeching on tile.For a moment I thought I was back in school, but then I heard Beau’s voice.
“Nola?”
My eyes focused on his worried face.I blinked twice.“I guess I’m not in heaven, then.”
Beau frowned, and then I heard Mimi’s voice.“Jolene, please push the button to let the doctor know she’s awake.”
Mimi’s face replaced Beau’s and I felt her warm hand covering mine.“You had us worried, Nola.You have a concussion and you’ve been in and out of consciousness.How do you feel?”
My brain flashed to the last things I could remember: the stuck brake, the concrete divider.The man in the backseat who wasn’t supposed to be there.And Cooper.
I struggled to sit up, and Jolene appeared to put more pillows under my head.She smoothed my hair back and gave my shoulder a briefsqueeze as she pulled away.“I’ve been dabbing a little color on your lips and brushing your hair so people know you’re still alive.Let’s just say that the lighting in here doesn’t do anyone any favors.”
“Thanks,” I said, not bothering with sarcasm.“Where’s Cooper?”
Jolene patted my shoulder.“He’s fine.He was seated far back enough that he only has minor bruising on his chest from the passenger-side airbag.He refused to leave your side until your doctors forced him to go home and rest.He said he’d be right back.Most of the flowers are from him, but the rest of us did our share.The pink peonies are from me, because they’re such cheerful flowers.”She bent toward the table next to me and began rearranging the flowers.“I hope you don’t mind, but I put a small vase of them here because the color is very flattering.”She gave me a perky grin, which didn’t completely conceal the worry in her eyes.“The red roses are from Cooper.”
My momentary relief was replaced by a new panic.“What about my parents?Do they know?”
Beau stood at the foot of the bed, looking like he hadn’t shaved or slept in days.“We’ve been trying to reach them, but their phones might be turned off.”
I clenched my eyes shut in an attempt to think beyond the throbbing headache and the barrage of images that I couldn’t stop from flashing through my brain.“That’s because they’re supposed to be in California for JJ’s cooking competition.Their phones would have been turned off during the flights, and I know that they’d be careful to leave them off while at the competition.If any of the judges hear a single vibration, they’ll throw you out.Did you leave messages?”
“No.I didn’t think that was how they should learn that their daughter was in an accident,” Mimi said.“And then, when it looked like you’d be in the clear, Jolene, Beau, and I decided to wait until you could call them yourself.I know how you hate it when people try to interfere.”
If my head didn’t hurt so much, I would have smirked.“That’s a relief.I don’t need them to worry, and I don’t want to ruin JJ’s bigevent.I’ll let them know what happened later.Like, when all the bandages are off.”
“Are you sure?”Mimi asked.She sat in a bedside chair, and I noticed a bag of needlework tucked beside her as well as a Ken Follett novel lying dog-eared at the foot of my bed.She also didn’t look as if she’d slept in days, and rampant flyaways covered her usually sleek bun, making it look like a ball of yarn after a litter of kittens had attacked it.“I argued with Beau and threatened to call them myself, but he reminded me of your…propensity to get a little, er, upset when others do something on your behalf.”Her gentle smile softened her words.Marginally.
“What about Sarah?Did anyone tell her?”
Jolene shook her head.“I didn’t think you’d want your parents to hear the news from her.I know she’s staying with a friend’s family while your parents are gone, and she’s got midterms, so I didn’t want to worry her, either.”
A petite woman with dark hair and eyes and wearing a pale pink lab coat entered the room, along with a middle-aged man in green scrubs—presumably a doctor and a nurse.The woman slid a clipboard from a pocket at the foot of my bed and began reading over my chart as the nurse moved around to the side of the bed to check something on the machinery hanging from the wall.
The doctor looked up and smiled at me, and I noticed the strand of pearls around her neck and the matching pearl stud earrings.“Good afternoon, Miss Trenholm.I’m Dr.Longo.You’ve been unconscious for a day and a half, so it’s good to see you with your eyes open.How are you feeling?”
I gave myself a mental inventory, starting with the scratchiness of the bandages on my head and the general soreness in my arms.It wasn’t until my assessment had reached my right leg that I knew something was wrong.“Why can’t I move my foot?”
“Because your ankle is broken, so we’ve immobilized it in a splint.You’re very fortunate that that’s the only thing you broke.Along withthe concussion and the abrasions on your arms, that’s the extent of the damage.You could do an Audi commercial showcasing the safety of their cars.If you’d been in something smaller, or without all the new technologies, it would be a different story.Although, to be honest, I’ve seen the damage caused by a car hitting a concrete wall at sixty miles an hour, and the type of car and the safety features usually don’t make a difference.You and your friend are very, very lucky.Or you have an amazingly alert guardian angel.”
I clenched my eyes shut again, trying to separate the unending parade of images that flashed in my head like a TikTok video.Maybe it was the mention of an angel, or just the memory of a pair of arms bracing me against the seat.Was there music?Cooper had turned the stereo off.I remembered that.But there had been music.A lullaby humming in my ear.I heard it now, like the soundtrack to the mental video replay.And the distinct scent of Youth-Dew perfume.
Something else the doctor said finally caught up to me.I pressed my eyes wide open as if to make sure I was actually awake and not dreaming.“Wait—I was unconscious for almost two days?So who picked Felicity up?”
“Beau did,” Mimi said.“When you didn’t show up or answer your phone, she called me.She said she’d take an Uber, but I told her to wait and that I’d send Beau.”She grimaced.“I don’t like driving on the interstate anymore, and I thought it would be a good opportunity for Beau and his sister to talk.”
“And it was,” Beau agreed.“It’s what we should have planned on doing in the first place.”He began walking in a tight circle, pulling his fingers through his hair.“I should have insisted regardless of what Felicity said.And then you wouldn’t—”
“Stop.Please.No one could have known.It was…” I was about to sayno one’s fault, but the image of the man in the backseat stopped me.“It was an accident,” I said instead.
