Marcus.
Oh God. We were in an accident. He’s going to hate me. Knowing everything that happened to his sister, he is going to hate me.
I try to take a few deep breaths so I don’t lose it in front of the girls.
“I’m scared, Harper,” Sadie tells me.
“I know, sweetheart.”
Unsnapping my seat belt, I shoulder open the front door. The front end of my car is smashed in. Fear ripples through me.
God, what if the girls are more hurt than I can see?
Don’t cry, Harper. Don’t cry.
Sirens sound in the distance as I try to open the back door behind me to get them out. Shit. It won’t budge. Running around the car to the passenger side, I’m able to squeeze it open and help both of them unbuckle themselves and get out of the car.
“Does anything hurt?” I ask, looking them over, trying to find any signs of injury.
“I’m scared,” Sadie tells me again.
“I know, baby. I am too.” I press a kiss to her forehead and hold both girls close to me.
“Can we help you and your daughters?” a stranger asks, dropping down next to us.
“I don’t know,” I tell them.
“The police are here. It was a teenager that hit you,” he tells me.
Standing up, there’s a police officer talking to a teenagegirl that is hysterical. I can only imagine what is going through her head. But she’s not my concern.
This is not how I expected the day to go. All I wanted was to take the girls to get ice cream and spend the afternoon with them before Marcus came home. Get dinner and then spend the night with Marcus.
This is a clusterfuck.
I can’t imagine his reaction.
“Ma’am, we’re going to need you and your daughters to come with us.” This comes from a police officer. “The EMTs want to check you over before taking you to the hospital.”
“Hospital?” Dread settles in my gut. “Why do we need to go to the hospital?”
“With the airbags deploying, they want to make sure, especially with children involved. And they’ll want to check you over for a concussion with your head wound.”
“Head wound?”
He nods. “You’re bleeding.”
“Shit.”
Pressing my hand to my forehead, I feel that it’s wet.
Whatever I was doing to stop the tears no longer works. They slide down my cheeks as the three of us follow the police officer over to the ambulance.
“Hi girls,” the woman greets them. “We’re going to check you over and then you’re going to get to ride in the ambulance. Have you ever ridden in one before?”
Both girls shake their heads.
“I promise, you won’t be scared.”
