‘Here Miss, this is what we were able to recover from the crash.” An officer said as he held Cara’s pocketbook out towards her. Leah wondered for a moment where he had come from before she took the purse from him. “License says her name is Cara Sloane.”
“Thank you.” She said before she found her footing and made her way to the nurse’s station. She typed in Cara’s name into the registration log and listed as her next of kin was Jake Lanza. Leah closed her eyes, of course Jake would be her emergency contact person. She picked up the phone and as much as she hated the position she was in, she dialed the one person who came to her mind. Luke hadn’t really left her mind since the night she called him out on having feelings for Cara. The moment the words had escaped her mouth, she had regretted it and now she was about to call him and tell him Cara needed him. He’d come running, of course, because as much as she regretted accusing him of caring for Cara, she knew it was undeniably true, even if he didn’t realize it.
“Hello?” Luke’s familiar voice spoke into the phone.
“Luke, it's Leah.” She said with a hoarse voice and cleared her throat before she began again. “Cara was in a car accident. They just brought her into the E.R. and Jake was her emergency contact…”
“I’m on my way…” He said exasperated and then the line went dead.
Chapter Two
Luke sat in the waiting room of the hospital alone, feeling numb. The second hand ticking of the clock on the wall, reminding him he’d been there for hours waiting on word from the doctors that were working on Cara. He looked up when he heard the door open and his shoulders slumped when he saw Leah. She walked over to him, offering him a cup of coffee from the cafeteria. Her shift had ended a while ago, but she had lingered around the hospital. She sat next to him as he took the cup of coffee from her hand.
“Thanks.” He said flatly.
“I’m guessing the doctor didn’t come find you yet?” She said beside him. All he could do was shake his head as he stared at the coffee cup in his hands. “Is there someone else you want me to call?”
“No.” He replied, sighing heavily as he worked the lid of the cup and took a sip.
“She’s going to be okay, Luke. They’ll be able to stop the bleeding, that is the biggest concern.”
Luke nodded as he slowly stood to his feet. He couldn’t sit still any longer and he began to pace the small area of the waiting room. He hated this place more than anything. The last time he had set foot in this building was the day his brother died. The day he carried Cara out of here and promised he’d take care of her. He’d done a shit job of that, and now it was his fault she was here.
“I’m going to go see if I can get an update.” Leah said, feeling useless as she watched Luke slip into his own world. He didn’t say a word as she left the room. He combed his fingers through his hair and stared up at the ceiling. He was no good at this and asked his heavenly father for help. Not for himself, but for Cara. He prayed he’d spare her so he could have one more shot at doing right by her. He would get it right, he vowed. He’d get her help and she’d go on to live the life she was meant to. He silently apologized to his brother as the image of his Jake’s worried face haunted him.
The coffee slipped from his hands spilling onto the floor, startling him. He turned around and saw a box of tissues on the table and grabbed the box. He knelt down and began to clean the mess with the tissues, shoving the wet ones into the now empty Styrofoam cup.
“Luke?”
He looked over his shoulder and saw his mother and father standing in the doorway of the waiting room. Concern etched along his mother’s tired features. He bit the inside of his cheek and forced himself to reign in his emotions. Deb made her way to her eldest son, bending down to help him. He held up his hand and shook his head.
“I’ve got it.” He said hoarsely and finished cleaning the mess before rising to his full height. His mother’s arms enveloped him and he closed his eyes, hating himself even more, because his mother had to return to the place where her son had died.
“Oh, Luke…” She whispered as she clung to him. He opened his eyes and looked up at his father. Joe stood solemnly wearing a blank expression on his face. He pulled back slowly from his mother, his eyes finding hers. They were tired and full of questions.
“Sam called us and told us that Cara was in a car accident.” She explained.
“She picked up Ava?” Luke asked.
“Yes, she and Nick picked her up from the birthday party.” She brushed a fallen strand of hair out of Luke’s face and stilled her hand on his cheek. “What happened?”
“Her car veered off the interstate and into a guard rail. They brought her in hours ago and from what Leah says the biggest concern is to stop her from bleeding internally…” His voice caught and he couldn’t finish.
“Has a doctor come out to see you yet?” Joe asked as he sat down on one of the couches.
Luke shook his head and took in a deep breath.