CHAPTER 20
She ran into them sooner than she hoped. It was the weekend and her and Lisa decided to venture into town to catch a movie and a bite to eat. After the movie, the two thought they would go all out and eat at one of the nicest restaurants in town. They were waiting on their food when they noticed three very familiar faces and one that Anya wished she'd never see. Sitting down at a table near the back were Joey and his new girlfriend, Anya had talked to her on occasion. She really liked her. She was happy Joey had found someone he cared for. Along with them, Justin came in holding hands with a girl Anya hadn't seen. Great, he has a girlfriend. I guess he's moved on. If I ever thought I would tell him before, I change my mind. He can never know about the baby.
"Do you see who just walked in?" Lisa began.
"Yeah, I do. Listen, would it be okay if we leave. Suddenly, I don't feel so good."
Lisa saw her friend in pain over seeing Justin with another girl. "Let's get out of here." The waiter put their food in to-go boxes and they left without being noticed by the group.
On the drive home, Anya kept looking out the window. Lisa knew she had to say something to help her friend. "Look, maybe it wasn't his girlfriend…just a girl…that happens to be…a friend." She tried.
Anya turned her head to look at her friend. "That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Where'd you come up with that one?" She had to laugh at her friend. She knew she was only trying to help but it wasn't working.
"Hey, I tried." Lisa joined in on the laughing. At least she is laughing, that's a start.
The girls were too busy laughing that Lisa didn't notice the car that was coming straight for them. She tried to swerve out of the way but was too late. The car hit them on the driver's front side. Luckily, neither car was going too fast. When Lisa calmed down, she looked over at Anya to make sure she was okay. Anya's head was bleeding from the cut she received from the dashboard of Lisa's car.
"Are you okay?" Lisa asked Anya.
"Yeah, I think. I just…ouch." Anya began but felt a sharp pain in her stomach. "Lisa, I think I need to go to the hospital, NOW!"
The guy that had been driving the other car came over to the girls to see if everything was alright. "We can't go anywhere in this car. I'm sure the police will be here soon and they'll take you to the hospital. Anya, I am so sorry about this. Please forgive me. If anything happens to your baby…."
"Don't think like that. I'll be fine, I just need to get to the hospital as soon as possible."
Lisa had to sit there and watch her friend in pain, her stomach and her heart. If they hadn't seen Justin in that restaurant, then they wouldn't have left early, then she wouldn't have had to cheer her friend up, then she would have been watching the road and never got into the accident. Quit being so hard on yourself. Justin isn't to blame for this, I'm not to blame for this, that drunk guy is the one that did this, give yourself a break, Lisa.
The police arrived a few minutes later and quickly made arrangements for Anya to go straight to the hospital. Lisa went with her to get checked as well. Lisa was released a short time later. With only a few bumps and bruises, she was free to go. She found Anya in the maternity ward. The doctors wanted to keep her overnight to make sure everything was okay with the baby.
Lisa made her way to Anya's room, expecting to see her up and around. When she walked into her room, she found something else. Anya had obviously been crying and Lisa's heart dropped. She knew it had to be the baby. "I know not everything is okay, please tell me what's going on?"
She hoped it wasn't bad.
Anya composed herself before she spoke. "That would depend on your definition of bad. The doctors said that I am fine, a few stitches on my forehead and some bruises but the impact of the car wreck put stress on the baby. They said that my body is trying to go into labor to help. The doctors said that if I don't rest and take the medication they have given me to stop the labor, the baby will probably be born. If she comes out now, she has a good chance of living. They have delivered babies as early as five months and they have survived but they don't want her out just yet. She needs to stay in me for at least six more weeks or longer for a better chance. I have to stay here for a couple of days so they can monitor the baby. If all goes well, I can leave on Wednesday but I have to be confined to bed for six weeks. Anything stressful could put me in labor. What am I going to do?" She tried to calm down but this was too much for her. The accident, the hormones, seeing Justin tonight, it was all too much and she started to cry again.
Lisa walked over to her friend to try to comfort her. "Look, everything will be okay. You'll get plenty of rest here and when you get back to the apartment, I will try to take off work for a while to take care of you, if you want me to?"
"Thank you, Lisa, for everything. I hate to run you off, but the doctors said I really need some sleep." Anya wasn't trying to be mean but she needed to be alone to think about everything that had happened that night.
"Sure, I'll be outside for a while. I have some papers to fill out and then I'll come back to say goodnight." With that, Lisa turned and walked out of the room. She immediately went to the lobby and found a pay phone. She remembered the phone number although she hadn't talked to him in over six months.