It was a long drive from Los Angeles to Riverside, over sixty miles, although the drive was easier at night, even on a holiday. Rose slid in a CD of her singing and settled back in her seat as they got on the freeway.
"Happy, Rose?" Jack asked, putting his foot on the gas and pushing the car up to seventy miles an hour.
"Yeah." Rose sighed. "It was nice to see the Hamptons again. We see them much too seldom these days. It’s hard to believe we once lived with Helga and Daniel…"
"…or that Helga was once married to Fabrizio," Jack finished. "She still goes down to Mexico once in a while, to let Ana see her grandson, but not so much as she used to."
"She’s moved on," Rose replied. "That’s the way life is sometimes. We move on, but we don’t forget."
Jack shrugged. "I hated to see her remarry at first, but I like Bill. He’s a good man."
"Helga certainly seems to think so. And now she’s got another little one. Lena is so cute, and she’s grown so much since we went to see them right after she was born."
"So have our little ones." Jack glanced at them in the rearview mirror. Both children were still sleeping, Lizzy clutching one of her pigtails.
"They do grow so fast," Rose murmured. "Where has the time gone? Lizzy’s four years old already."
Jack laughed softly. "I think you’re supposed to ask that question when they’re almost grown, not when they’re still little, especially when you have another one on the way."
"Time does pass quickly," Rose responded, looking back at her children. "But we’ve made it count, every minute of it."
"Can you believe it’s been six years since we met?"
"It doesn’t feel like that long. Even when things were at their worst, I was always glad to be with you." She looked back again as Paul stirred, kicking his feet briefly. She patted the little feet in their knit booties and turned back around. "Before we know it, they’ll be grown and gone."
"It seems like forever when they cry," Jack responded dryly.
"But when they finally grow up and go out into the world, it’ll feel like no time has passed at all. They grow so fast—and all we can do is love them and try to steer them the right way."
Jack squinted his eyes, looking out at the wet road ahead. "That’s all any parents can do. That, and hope for the best."
*****
It began raining not long after they left the Hamptons' home, and now, as they neared Riverside, it grew especially heavy.
Jack pulled off the freeway, heading for a back route so that he could avoid driving any further on the watery freeway, where, in spite of the hazards, people insisted upon driving as fast as they could and often wound up hydroplaning, sometimes with serious consequences. “Southern California’s ice” was what one of his professors had called the rain, and Jack couldn’t help but agree, especially late at night.
Rose had dozed off after the stop they had made at a gas station to let Lizzy use the bathroom, and the two children had fallen asleep again as well. He turned off the music, listening to the swish of the windshield wipers as the rain poured down again.
It was only a few more miles to the city. Letting the car coast along at forty miles an hour, his mind wandered, only half-paying attention to the road.
The stoplight ahead turned green. Jack had been slowing down, but now he sped up again, heading for the intersection.
At that moment, he saw the other car entering the intersection against the red light, headlights off and swerving drunkenly. He slammed on the brakes, hearing Rose’s shocked cry as the sudden motion jarred her from sleep, but it was too late.
With a screech of clashing metal, the two cars collided, spinning around once before coming to a stop in the middle of the deserted intersection.
*****
Lizzy slammed against the window, jolted awake by the collision. She screamed, but no one responded. After crying in fright for a few minutes, she sat up, pushing away the pillow that she had been leaning against. It had protected her from injury when she had been slammed against the window.
My finger hurts was the first thing that occurred to her. Looking at it, she picked out a shard of glass, whimpering in pain as she did so. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but whatever it was didn’t seem good.
She looked around. Everyone seemed to be asleep. Paul’s car seat had been yanked loose and pushed inward and was laying on its side, Paul still in it. She poked him, wondering why he wasn’t crying, too. Paul always cried at scary things.
"Daddy?" She kicked at her father’s seat, trying to get his attention. "Daddy?"
Jack didn’t move. He was slumped against the door, his eyes closed. The glass was cracked where his head rested.
"Mommy?" Lizzy tried to kick Rose’s seat, but couldn’t reach it. "Mommy? Mommy?"
No one responded. Her voice raising in pitch to a frightened shriek, Lizzy tried desperately to get someone’s attention. "Mommy? Daddy? Baby Paul?"
No one answered. It was so dark she could hardly see, with the only light coming from a couple of streetlights and the stoplight. Lizzy reached for the straps to her car seat, then stopped. Daddy had told her not to unbuckle herself. But something was wrong; she knew it.
Her fear overcoming what she had been told, Lizzy pulled at the buckles, finally succeeding in undoing them. Crawling out of her seat, she pulled on the lock and then tugged at the door handle. It came open in a flash, surprising her so much that she tumbled out of the car.
She sat in a puddle for a moment, wailing about her skinned knee, then got up. No one was listening to her cry. Mommy had taught her what to do in an emergency; maybe this was what she was talking about.
She was supposed to call 9-1-1. Lizzy cheered considerably at the idea, then started crying again. She couldn’t call 9-1-1 without a phone.
Forgetting for a moment that no one was listening to her, she grabbed her father’s door handle. It took some struggling, but she managed to move it. The door swung open, Jack leaning against it partway until his seatbelt stopped him from moving further.
"Daddy?" Lizzy tugged on his arm, getting only a low groan in response. "Daddy? Should I call 9-1-1 like Mommy said? I need a phone."
Jack didn’t respond. Frustrated, Lizzy raised her voice. "Daddy! Daddy, help!"
Just as she was about to start crying again, she saw the cell phone attached to his belt. Opening the cover, she pulled it out, trying to remember what to do.
The numbers glowed in the darkness. Looking at them, Lizzy picked out the ones she needed and dialed, doing exactly as she had been told.
"9-1-1," a voice responded.
Lizzy started crying again. "Help!" she wailed into the phone.
"What do you need help with?"
"An emergency."
"What’s the emergency?"
Lizzy walked over to the side of the road, looking at the cars. She had been standing next to her father, but then she had remembered that she should never stand in the middle of the street.
Sitting down in the mud, she responded, "Our car’s all squished. There’s another squished car, too."
"Where are you at?" Cell phones gave no location.
"Outside."
"Where outside?"
"I dunno." Lizzy’s voice trembled. "We was going home from Aunt Helga’s house."
"Where does your Aunt Helga live?"
"LA."
The operator checked; it was unlikely that she would be fielding a call from LA. "Do you know what town you’re in now?"
"No."
"Are there any street signs?"
"Uh-huh."
"What do they say?"
"I dunno."
"How old are you?"
"I’m four."
"Can you read at all?"
"I can read my name."
"Okay. Do you know your numbers and alphabet?"
"Yeah."
"Well, can you tell me what numbers and letters are in the street sign?"
Lizzy squinted, looking at one of them. "It says V-A-N-B-U-R-E-N."
"Okay, Van Buren. Can you tell me the letters in the other one?"
"It says…" Lizzy brightened. "I can read it! It says Lizzy! Just like my name!"
"Okay, Lizzy. Thank you. There’ll be some people to help soon. Are you in the car?"
"No."
"Well, then, I want you to stay out of the street, okay? Go over to the side."
"I am."
"Who else was in the car?"
Lizzy whimpered. "Mommy, and Daddy, and Baby Paul…they won’t do nothing. How come they won’t do nothing?"
"I don’t know, Lizzy. Can you stay on the phone until someone gets there?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, Lizzy. Keep an eye out. Are you okay?"
"I cut my finger and I skinned my knee."
"Are you bleeding?"
"No. But Baby Paul was. His head was bleeding. I saw it. It was gross."
"I can imagine." The operator sent out that bit of information. "What’s your last name, Lizzy?"
"Dawson."
"Is that everybody else’s last name, too?"
"Uh-huh. My daddy is Jack, and my mommy is Rose, and my little brother is Paul." She jumped up, shouting into the phone. "There’s a police car! Is the police gonna help?"
"Maybe, Lizzy. You just stay on the phone until I say it’s okay."
*****
Jack awakened slowly, feeling sharp pains in his jaw and left arm. He had a vague recollection of something yanking on his arm before, but he wasn’t sure what it had been. He tried to move his arm, gritting his teeth as a severe pain shot through it.
Broken. Or badly sprained, he thought, trying to sit up. He was surprised to find himself leaning over the pavement, held in place by his seatbelt.
When he was back in his seat, he felt his jaw, hoping that it wasn’t broken. At least he knew what had knocked him out—a blow to the jaw, rather than another brain injury. That, at least, was something to be thankful for.
He looked around, bleary-eyed. Rose was slumped over the dashboard, holding her stomach and moaning softly. He tried to get her attention, but she was too stunned and confused to know what was happening. Turning to the back, he looked for the kids.
At first, he couldn’t see anything. Then, his breath caught in horror as he saw Paul lying in his car seat, halfway across the back seat. The baby’s head was bleeding profusely.
He reached for the child, then stopped as another pain shot up his arm. He couldn’t get to him from where he was. Climbing carefully out of the car, he went to the back, only to stop short as he realized that Lizzy’s door was open and she was gone.
Forgetting Paul for a moment, he turned to scan the darkness around the car, wondering if she had been thrown from it. A moment later, he heard a shout from the side of the road and saw flashing lights approaching. Turning toward the shout, he saw Lizzy sitting in the mud, his cell phone to her ear.
"Lizzy!" He tried to move towards her, but stumbled, dizzy from the blow to his jaw. Lizzy saw him and shrieked.
"Daddy!" She yelled into the phone. "My daddy’s awake! He got out of the car!"
Jack almost fell over what was left of the front of the car. Steadying himself, he staggered over to where Lizzy was, taking the phone from her. "Hello? Who is this?"
"This is 9-1-1. Who is this?"
"This is Jack Dawson."
"Lizzy’s father?"
"Yes."
"Your daughter called 9-1-1 herself. You should commend her for that. Are the emergency personnel there yet?"
"Yes…yes, here they are." Jack looked at the phone as it beeped; the battery was dying. "Can I hang up now? The battery is about run out."
"Yes. Go ahead. They’re there to help you."
*****
The intersection was a noisy, flashing melee of ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks. A passer-by—the first they had seen since the accident—slowed down to stare, but quickly moved on as a police officer turned to look at them.
One of the paramedics approached Jack. "Sir, sit down. You look like you’re about to fall."
"I can’t. I have to help Paul and Rose."
"Daddy!" Lizzy threw her arms around his legs, almost tripping him. "Daddy, I called 9-1-1!"
"I know you did, Lizzy. Thank you. That was a smart thing to do."
"Thank you, Daddy. Are you okay?" Lizzy looked at him strangely.
"I’m fine," Jack started to say, but at that moment the world tilted strangely, and the next thing he knew, two paramedics were moving him to a gurney.
"Daddy…" Lizzy followed, grabbing his arm when he was lying down.
Jack yelped in pain. "Lizzy, sweetie, don’t do that, okay? I hurt my arm."
"Sorry, Daddy. Where’s Mommy and Baby Paul?"
Jack looked toward the cars, remembering. "Let me up."
One of the paramedics strapped him down. "I can’t do that. You need to stay still."
"My wife and son are in there! They’re hurt!"
"We’re doing everything we can." A police officer took Lizzy aside, setting her in the back of the police car out of the rain.
"Are you gonna arrest us?" Lizzy wanted to know.
The cop turned around. "What?"
"Are you gonna arrest us?"
"No, we’re not going to arrest you. The ambulance is going to take you to the hospital."
"I was born in a hospital."
"Good." The cop wasn’t paying much attention.
Lizzy’s eyes widened as a large piece of machinery was moved toward her mother’s side of the car. Jumping out of the police car, she darted past the cop, running toward the wreck.
He grabbed her, preventing her from going any further. Lizzy struggled furiously, screaming.
"Mommy! What are they doing to Mommy?"
"That’s called the Jaws of Life. She couldn’t get out of the car, so they’re going to cut her out."
Lizzy’s eyes widened more. "No! Mommy!" she shrieked. She began to kick. "Let me go! You can’t cut her up!"
"Nobody’s going to cut her up. They’re just getting her out of the car."
"I want Mommy! Now!"
"Settle down!"
Lizzy responded by screaming again, then going into a full-fledged temper tantrum. "I want my mommy! I want my daddy! Now! Now! Now!"
Another police officer came up to them, carrying a cardboard box. "Would this be yours, young lady?"
Lizzy stopped screaming to look at the box. "Barbie!" she cried, grabbing the box and holding it tightly. "Is Barbie okay?"
"Yes…Barbie’s fine." She couldn’t say the same for the girl’s family, especially her baby brother, but she let her have that small consolation.
Rose’s door had been pried open and the metal trapping her legs torn away. Lizzy watched as she was placed on a gurney, Rose crying quietly and still clutching her stomach.
"Mommy!" she called. "Mommy!"
Rose opened her eyes and looked in the direction of her daughter’s voice. Lizzy saw this and waved.
"Are you okay, Mommy?"
The second the police officer let her go, she rushed toward where her parents and brother were being loaded into ambulances. "Mommy! Daddy! Are you okay?"
"Lizzy." Rose looked lovingly at her daughter before closing her eyes again.
"Mommy!"
"Come on, young lady." The police officer who had found her Barbie doll picked her up.
"Let go of me! You’re a stranger!"
Rose pushed herself up as another paramedic pushed her into the back of the ambulance. "It’s okay, Lizzy. She won’t hurt you."
"You’re going to ride with your mommy, okay?"
"Okay." Lizzy sniffed, ready to cry again. "Is she gonna be okay?"
"I’ll be okay, Lizzy," Rose assured her, squeezing her hand. "We’re all going to the hospital."
"Okay, Mommy." Lizzy was trying to be brave. "Where’s Daddy and Baby Paul?"
"They’re in the other ambulance, sweetie. Settle down now so we can go."
Lizzy gulped back her tears. "They’re gonna be okay, right, Mommy?"
"I hope so, Lizzy. I really hope so."