Nick stormed out the front door. He was upset with the way things had been going that afternoon. Jess seemed to have been asking way too much of him lately, or so he thought. All he wanted to do was get into his car and drive far and fast to escape all of the madness that had been going on in his life.
The group had gotten popular so fast. It seemed
like only yesterday Nick could go where he wanted, do what he wanted without having to worry about getting mobbed. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the fans, but sometimes it was a little overwhelming and scary. He was beginning to unwind and relax after being gone for over three months when Jess approached him wanting a favor. She thought it would be good for him to come to a party and entertain some of her old classmates from school.
"Entertain, it would be so nice of you to do that
for me,” Nick sneered as he climbed into the car. How
could she even think of asking me to do something like this after I have been away for so long? It was the straw that blew him up. He just wanted to be left alone until his thoughts cleared.
Nick roared out of the driveway. He loved the
feel of his corvette as it sped up the hill. He didn’t care how fast he was going. He didn’t realize how fast he was going until he saw a flash of a blue truck pull out in front of him. Nick stomped on the brakes hoping to avoid a certain collision. There was an awful sound of metal and glass and tires screeching. Then it was quiet.
“Someone call 911. Someone, please call 911.”
Time seemed to stand still. A shiny red corvette
was barely recognizable in the twisted wreckage. It was
tangled up in with the blue pickup truck. A crowd had
started to gather.
The ambulance seemed to take forever to arrive to
the accident. Once it was on the scene, the paramedics
worked quickly to ascertain the number of victims and extent of injuries.
Jess knew that sometimes Nick needed to be alone
and cool down. She wasn’t concerned when he left, but began to get worried when she heard sirens in the distance. She decided to go and see what was going on just for a piece of mind.
As she got closer to the accident scene she could
feel a knot tightening in her stomach. Something was not feeling right and every inch seemed to take forever to travel. Jess thought she saw a shiny red object in the wreckage.
“What am I thinking? I have got myself convinced
that something terrible has happened and I am not even close enough to see,” Jess thought to herself.
She stopped the car and ran towards where the
crowd had gathered on the side of the street. She looked towards the wreckage in time to see the paramedics pull a man’s limp body free. She felt her knees buckle. Jess strained to look closer at the person. It didn’t really look like Nick, but she couldn’t tell. Then she noticed an ID bracelet on the left wrist. It was the bracelet she had given Nick just a few weeks ago---
“Oh my god, no,” Jessica screamed. “It can’t be!”
Jess felt like she was running in slow motion,
she couldn’t get to Nick fast enough. She was stopped from coming closer by a policeman.
“Hold it there, miss, I can’t let you go over
there,” the heavyset officer held her back.
“But I need to go there, I’m his girlfriend,
please you have to let me,” Jessica tearfully pleaded to the policeman, but it was in vain.
If you are his friend, you would help him much
better by staying out of the way. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt by being in the way. Just stay back here.”
Jessica resigned herself to be a spectator rather
than being where she felt she was needed. She watched as the paramedics worked quickly on Nick. They were giving him an IV and were checking his injuries. It just didn’t look like Nick - all of the blood and his face was so swollen. He was unconscious, which Jessica decided was much better to be at this point rather than to be in incredible pain.
As Nick was put into the ambulance, Jess asked the
officer where they were taking him.
“Tampa Bay Hospital,” he replied curtly.
She wasted no time getting back to her car. Her
hands were shaking so much she was barely able to put the keys in the ignition. After she took a few deep breaths, Jess started the car. She tried to focus on what she was doing. The drive to the hospital for her would take at least 30 minutes. Nick would arrive there much sooner.