Both men look at me this time.
“The engravings on the bracelets. We protected each other and encouraged one another.”
I reach up like I’m feeling for a necklace that should be there but isn’t.
“Jewelry. Was I wearing any?” I ask abruptly like I’m standing on the cliff of something important.
“No, but I assumed the necklace you were wearing was lost in the accident. When I saw you earlier that night though, you had on a diamond necklace I gave you. It was a solitaire,” Hendrix answers.
“Did Lennon wear a necklace?”
Dash nods. “She always wore a vertical bar that had her and London’s names on it, and it said two souls, one heart.”
“Okay, was my sister wearing a necklace when she came in? Or was it in her effects?”
Hendrix thinks for a moment. “No, she wasn’t wearing one, and no, I don’t remember a necklace with either of your effects.”
“You saw her?” I ask squeezing his hand again before he pulls it away.
He nods and his eyes water. “I did. They said she was DOA, dead on arrival, but I refused to accept it. I worked on her for twenty minutes before someone had to physically pull me away from her. The trauma surgeon had you, but I had to do something to try and help. But I couldn’t save her, no matter how hard I tried,” he says as he spreads his fingers looking at his hands like he sees something on them.
“I’m sorry. So, so sorry,” he whispers.
“I know, Hendrix. You don’t have anything to apologize for.”
Dash pulls a chair to the other side of my bed.
“If London was wearing white, and you saw Lennon get picked up still wearing black, isn’t it more likely she’s the one who’s gone?” I ask softly.
“You still could’ve changed after getting picked up,” he says trying to speak the possibility into existence.
“Would there have been time for us to stop and change according to the report?”
“No,” is all Dash says.
“But you could’ve changed shirts while driving,” he adds.
“You think so? Isn’t that sort of dangerous to do while driving?”
“Not if you were at a red light. Trust me. Y’all have had tons of practice over the years I’ve known you,” Dash says.
“And we told you this about us? If it was such a secret between the two of us, why would we do that?”
“Because you…because Lennon loves me.”
I turn to Hendrix. “Did you know about this? About us covering for one another.”
“Not to that degree but yeah, I knew y’all had done it before. London and I have been together the past two years. Dash would have more knowledge about things like that since he’s been around the two of you for a longer time, even though he and Lennon only started dating a year and a half ago.”
“Okay, well, I think I’ll listen to the neurologist and stay here tonight since it’s so late. My parents don’t know about tonight, do they?” I ask mostly to Hendrix.
“No, not unless you want them to. You’re a grown woman in your thirties.”
“Can you stay with me? Both of you?” I ask. I know it’s a big ask and even a selfish one. But I feel close to being whole and safe with them both. Especially now that I know I might be in danger. Each of them holds pieces of the truth I need. The truth we all need.
“I’ll stay,” Dash answers.
“Can you?” I ask Hendrix.
