Page 35 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
I put my phone on speaker and peered back into the car. “Lina?” I called out to her. She didn’t respond. Blood was trickling up the side of her cheek and into her hairline. “Fuck. Lina. Can you hear me? It’s Cal!”
Nothing.
I slammed my hand against the frame of the car. The window was shattered, so I reached in to hold Kelli’s hand. Her face was pale, but there was no blood on her. “Kelli, I’m right here. You’re both going to be all right. Help is coming. Just hold on.”
“Sir?” the female responder called out to me.
“I’m here,” I said.
“Are they conscious now?”
“No,” I said bitterly. “I’m just letting them know I’m here. That they’ll be all right.”
“Very good. Can you hear sirens yet?”
I paused and waited. Sure enough, one rang out in the night not too far away. “Yes.”
“Good,” she said. “You should step away from the vehicle now. They are no more than thirty seconds away from you. Your friends are in good hands.”
Forcing myself to step away took a hell of an effort. All I could think about was Lina lying down there, cold and unconscious. An ambulance came around the corner. I waved them down and pointed at the patch of black ice. The driver veered straight toward us and came to a stop.
“They’re here,” I told the dispatcher.
“All right. This is where I leave you, sir. You’ve done a great job. Stay calm. Your friends still need you.”
“Thank you,” I said, and then I hung up and ran to the four paramedics getting out of the ambulance.
One of them, the oldest, a man with graying hair and wise eyes, listened to me as I unloaded all my fears on him. “You need to get them out of there. She’s bleeding from the head. They didn’t respond to me. I tried—”
“Son,” the medic said, grabbing me by the shoulders. “We know what we’re doing. I’m going to ask you to stay here and wait. I know it’s hard, but it’s what you need to do right now. More boys are coming in behind us. We’ll get them out of here and to the hospital. All right?”
I nodded. My hands were still shaking.
“If there is anyone you need to call, go call them.”
I nodded again, and he left. I watched as they all slid into the ditch. The sound of their voices was muffled.
I pressed my hands to the side of my head as the panic inside me swelled to new levels. I could barely breathe. I crouched down and held my head in my hands, trying to ride out the fear.
They were going to be okay.
They had to be okay.
She had to be.
14
LINA
Dandelions.
There were so many dandelions, all bright yellow, standing to attention inches above the dark green grass and swaying gently in a warm breeze that kissed my skin. It must have been summertime.
I looked down at myself. I was wearing a white cotton dress. My feet were bare, and my toes were painted the same yellow as the flowers scattered all around me. My skin was tanned—as tanned as it used to get when I was just a girl and would spend all my time playing outside.
In this yard.
I looked around. I was in the backyard of my old family home. The same, dilapidated, worn white fence wrapped around the half acre, separating our yard from that of the neighbor, whose farm house was half a mile south. I could see the white building and dark roof from here. The silo stood tall against the bright blue sky, its aluminum frame winking at me.
