Page 59 of Collision

“I’ll let you know the funeral arrangements when they’re finalised.” She pauses with her hand on the door and her eyes on the floor. “And then we’re done, Jamie.”

My stomach drops.

Jamie chokes on a sob as he steps towards her and my gut churns with the pain between them.

“And Ben?”

My eyes meet hers and I feel it all - the pain and anger, the desperation, the deep seated need for blame - I see it and I take it. I take all of it so that she won’t have to shoulder this burden.

Let her blame me. Let her hate me.

“Yes, Mikaela?”

She appraises me with cold indifference before she says: “stay the fuck away. You are not welcome anywhere near her. Ever. Do you understand me?”

I nod as the knife of her words twist in my gut and the man on the other side of the car laughs.

He laughs loudly.

My eyes snap to him as hatred blurs my vision and Matthew smirks, as if in on some little secret no one else is privy to, before climbing into the car. As if hewantsthis.

“Get in, babe.” His voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

“Mik, please.” Jamie’s pleas fall on deaf ears as she climbs into the car, hugging Elizabeth’s belongings to her chest. “Please don’t leave.”

“I want to go home.” Her voice is void of life.

The engine sputters to life and wheels screech against tarmac as Matthew speeds away. Neither Jamie nor I make a move to leave. Instead, we stand with the weight of our actions resting on our shoulders, the ghost of grief creeping over us both as her taillights fade into nothing more than a blip in the distance.

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