JACK AND ROSE: PRESENT TIME
Chapter Fourteen

Rose woke up in her room from the phone ringing. She yelled at her mom to get it, but then she remembered her mother wasn't home.

Rose climbed out of bed and answered it.

"Oh my Gosh..." was all she could say.

After that, Dominique came to pick up Rose. They drove straight to the hospital.

"Dom, why did this have to happen? Why?" Rose sobbed as Dominique drove.

"I dunno Rose, It shouldn't have happened, not to Tonya," Dominique replied as she held back her tears.

"Was she driving?" Rose asked, her hands were shaking.

"No, Tommy was."

"Is he alright?"

"Yes, he's fine, excepted for a few bumps and bruises. He was wearing his seat belt, but Tonya unbuckled hers for a second to look for her purse and then the other car hit them. Oh, I pray to God that she's gonna be alright."

"Thanks for calling me Dom, oh gosh, we can't lose Tonya," Rose said before they reached the hospital.

They ran to the emergency room waiting room. They saw Jack and Fabrizio comforting Tommy. Tommy, the funniest guy they knew was sobbing.

Rose walked up to Jack, "What happened?"

Jack got up off of the couch and took Rose to the corner.

"Rose. She didn't make it," Jack whispered to her.

"No...no...not Tonya," Rose said as she started to cry harder and leaned into Jack's loving arms.

"Shh it's alright Rose, we have to be strong for Tommy."

"I know...I--" Rose mumbled off as she saw Fabrizio break the news to Dominique.

Rose and Jack walked over to Tommy.

"Why in the hell did this have to happen? It's my fault, it's all my fault. I was driving...I should have told her to..." Tommy tried to finish but he couldn't. He just couldn't.

Rose sat down next to Tommy and laid her arm around him. Surprisingly, he let her comfort him.

Tommy kept sobbing. Jack and Fabrizio finally got Tommy up and walked him out of the hospital.

Fabrizio took Tommy home. Dominique took Jack and Rose home.

They drove home in silence. Finally, Dominique got the courage to speak.

"How are we gonna get by like this? Especially Tommy?"

"I dunno...Tommy's a wreck. Tonya was the first person to tell him she loved him. He feels her death is his fault," Jack said.

Rose stared into space. Why did this have to happen? Tonya was the nicest person she's ever known, yet she was taken away from her family and friends.

"We have to be strong for Tommy, you girls you know that," Jack said.

"How Jack? How can we be strong?" Rose mumbled through her tears.

The rest of the car ride home was silent, except for the sobbing of the three teens. Something unexpected happened, and they didn't know how to deal with it.

Chapter Fifteen
Stories