The cell phone by Peter’s nightstand woke the both of them up when it started to play an old tune from the 80s. Sonya was the first one to speak as she took the time to shove Peter back into the real world, angered by the interruption.
“Why didn’t you turn off that thing?” she called out. “I said no text messages or at night!”
“It’s not a text message. That’s Ray’s ringtone.” Peter said as he sat up and picked up the small cell phone. Why the hell is he calling at three in the morning?
“Ray?” Peter said, as he stood up, “What’s going on?”
“I’m driving out to you right now.” Ray quickly answered. “Be dressed and ready to go in ten minutes.”
Peter could hear in the background that Ray not only was speeding, but he was using his siren to pass whoever was in his way. Ray was not only the owner of the land they were renting for the summer; he also happened to be the town’s sheriff. And at the exact moment, Peter could tell that he gunning for his location like a bat out of hell.
“What’s going on out there, Ray?” Peter asked again.
“This is not something to get into over the phone, Peter.” Ray answered as he cut around a corner and there was loud honking in the background. “I’ll tell you everything when I get there. Get dressed, now.”
Peter didn’t have a chance to say anything else, as the line went dead. Ray had hung up the phone so that he could put both hands on the wheel to make sure he got to Peter’s place in one piece. Whatever it was, Ray wouldn’t put the lights and the sirens on just to go out for a drink and shoot the shit. Something was going on and Peter decided not to question it as he started to get dressed. Sonya sat up when she realized that Peter wasn’t coming back to bed.
“What’s going on, hun?” she quietly asked.
“I’m not sure but Ray is on his way here and wants me dressed.” Peter said as he tossed on some blue jeans and an old t-shirt. “Go back to bed. I’ll text or call you when I have more details.”
Peter made sure he went downstairs with great care. As he came down he noticed there was someone sitting on the couch in the living room, with the television on. Peter slowly strolled into the room to find out who it was.
“Jacob?” Peter called out.
“Hey Peter.” Jacob said as he looked up. “What are you doing up?”
Peter cracked a grin. “I was about to ask the same thing.”
“Well, I had a bad dream.” Jacob said. “Whenever that happens, I need to do something to distract myself for a short while before going back to bed. If I don’t do that, I’ll just have the same dream again.”
Peter looked into Jacob eyes and his gut made the judgment that the kid was being honest with him.
“Alright, it’s good,” Peter said, sighing. “How long have you been up?”
“Only thirty minutes.” The young man confirmed.
“Well, get into the room and read a book.” Peter said as he put his shoes on. “Ray’s going to be here any moment and I don’t want you out here in case your mom comes down to talk to him.”
“Ray is coming over now?” Jacob repeated.
“Yes and I have no idea why.” Peter said as he knew what the next question was going to be.
Jacob turned the television off and went to his room as Peter finished putting on his running shoes. He proceeded to leave the summer house and lock the door behind him. Peter could tell by the light coming from the house that Jacob had done what he asked and went back to his room. He was a good kid and Peter appreciated the fact that the little guy didn’t give him half the flack most kids are known to give their step-fathers. Peter walked off the porch and over to where his car was parked and waited for Ray to show up. He didn’t have to wait long to see his friend approach the summer house as his lights were still on, but the siren was silent. As the car came to a stop, Ray didn’t even bother to get out of the car as all he did was lower his window.
“Get in the car.” Ray ordered, “We have to get going.”
Peter did as he was told and got into the passenger side and put on his seatbelt.
“What the hell is going on, Ray?” Peter asked.
“I got a call from your agent.” Ray said as he pulled out and started to head back for the road. “He said you’ve been avoiding his calls.”
“I don’t want to talk to him,” Peter said, sound rather annoyed. “I’ve had enough lectures about deadlines and commitments to publishers for the week, thank you.”
“Well, you had your agent listed as an emergency contact should no one be able to reach you.” Ray said, as he pulled out onto the main road. “He was called by the hospital several hours ago and when he couldn’t get a hold of you. He called me.”
“Where are we going?” Peter suddenly asked as he realized Ray put the lights back on the moment he got back to the main road.
“We’re going to the airport.” Ray answered. “And back to the city.”
“What the hell is going on?” Peter quickly asked.
“There’s been an accident, Peter.” Ray answered. He didn’t even turn to look his friend in the eye.
“What kind of accident?” Peter asked.
“A car accident.” Ray answered again. “It was Christina.”
Peter put his hand to his mouth and took a deep breath. Lately he didn’t want to even hear anyone mention his first wife, but if Ray was taking him to the airport for an accident, this wasn’t a good sign.
“Is she alright?” he paused for a moment. “Is Nathan alright?”
“Nathan wasn’t involved.” Ray said as he peeled around a tight corner. “She was actually on her way to pick him up from a party when the accident occurred.”
Peter could tell his friend was shaken up. “How bad is it?”
The Sheriff took a deep breath. “It’s not good Peter.”
“How bad?” Peter asked again.
“The doctors don’t think she’s going to make it through the night.” Ray answered. “That’s why I’m getting you the fuck out of dodge as quickly as I can. We need to get you there as soon as we can. I pulled some strings and have a Cesna waiting for you. You’re not the only important person that spends time in my town. They’ll be a car waiting for you at the airport to take you straight to the hospital. I’ll stop by and check on Sonya and the kids tomorrow morning and I’ll get her up to speed before coming to the city to meet up with you tomorrow night. Is that okay with you, partner?”
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“Yeah,” Peter confirmed, “Sounds like a good plan.”
Ray pulled into the airport but instead of pulling up to departures he skipped right by it and went towards the hangars. Sitting in front of one of them was a small Cesna that looked like it could carry ten to fifteen people. Peter hopped on and Ray stood by and watched while the small jet taxied away to the runway. As Peter sat down and couldn’t help but think the worst. Had she lost a limb or gone into a coma? Was she ever going to come out of this at all? He was quite concerned even though this was all about his ex-wife. Despite their differences and how their marriage ended, Peter was the kind of guy who wouldn’t wish harm upon his worst enemy. So, the news that his ex-wife was hurt saddened him. He didn’t hate her and that was the reason why he didn’t fight her during the divorce and tried to make things as civil as possible. He even let her have full custody of Nathan and while it didn’t seem like a good idea now he had tried hard to make the divorce easy on everyone but had failed. People were still hurt, stung by the revelation that their family was breaking apart. Despite the collapse of the life they all used to have, Peter still cared about what happened to the members of his first family. He didn’t have to worry about Sonya and the kids; Ray was already committed to take care of that. All Peter had to concentrate on was the task ahead of him and face it head on.
It took the Cesna only an hour to fly back to the city as they were bumped up on the landing queue because of a medical emergency the tower was already notified about before they got there. Once at the hanger, there was a car already waiting for them as Ray had indicated. It took that car only twenty minutes to get through traffic and get Peter to the hospital. He was on edge during the ride and even though it was quite cool in the city that night, Peter was still sweating as if he never left the summer house. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest like a cannon. When he strolled into the hospital, he walked right up to nearest desk. “Excuse me, I’m looking for Christina Anderlini.”
“She’s in the ICU.” The nurse at the station informed him. “We’re only allowing family to go in right now. What is your relation?”
“I used to be married to her,” Peter informed the lady, “We have a son.”
“Alright.” The nurse approved as she pointed left. “Down the hall, to the right.”
“Thank you.” Peter said as he strolled down the way he was directed and towards the intensive care unit. He literally didn’t know what to expect. It had been a while she they even shared the same room without a lawyer present. For a while, this woman had been the love of his life, the one that he thought he would grow old with and never leave. Yet he did leave her and their son to be raised by her as a single parent. He did his weekends, paid his support but Peter was slowly squeezed out of Nathan’s life due to lack of time and a lack of interest from his son. The old man wasn’t worth the time anymore, and even requests to his son join him all summer at the house by the beach were rejected with authority and extreme prejudice. Peter didn’t know what to do with the young man who was once his little guy, but soon he wasn’t going to have a choice. If things were half as bad as Ray and the Nurse indicated, he might have to be more active with his son whether either of them wanted it or not. Peter came to the door that entered into the ICU and he stopped short of that door and took a moment to compose himself. She was in an accident, and while he hoped for the best, Peter also had to prepare himself for the worst. With that Peter took in one more breath and then opened the door. As he walked in, he could see there were several rooms and beds, almost a separate wing that was an entity of its own. He walked up to the head desk to inquire about his former wife.
“Christina Anderlini?” he quietly asked.
“We were informed you were coming, Mr. Anderlini.” She said as she also pointed in a specific direction. “Room six but please be careful. She’s in rough shape.”
“Alright, thank you.” Peter took another deep breath and then walked towards the room he had been directed to. Peter didn’t hesitate as he softly pushed through the door to walk in and see that there were already some people there. Her older sister Shannon and younger brother Bill were sitting by her bedside, and while her brother was shocked to see Peter there, he got up and walked over to give him a hug. It was sign of his appreciation for something that many men might not have done for their ex-wives in their time of need.
“How is she doing?” Peter asked.
Bill looked back at Peter as he was in tears, overwhelmed with emotion. “It’s not good, man. She’s in a coma and they don’t not sure if she’s going to ever wake up.”
Peter looked around. “Where’s Nathan?”
“She was on her way to pick him up when the accident happened. We’ve sent someone out there to get him.” Christina’s sister replied.
“Alright,” Peter said as he gave her a hug. “Let’s not think the worst and hope she’ll get through it.”
“Thank you.” Shannon replied, “I never wanted to see you ever again but considering the situation, I’m glad you took the time to be here for her.”
“Regardless of what happened, we’ll always be a part of one another’s life.” Peter said as he couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. “I’m going to get some coffee for everyone. Hopefully Nathan will be back by then.”
The truth was Peter couldn’t stay in the room another second. Regardless of all the bad things he had said to her over the last decade since their marriage ended, Peter still knew her as the woman he fell in love with so many years ago. To see her so lifeless and wrapped up like an ancient mummy was too much for him to take. He went down to the café that was still open and grabbed a few cups of coffee. He put the sugar and crème on the side because he couldn’t remember how everyone preferred their java. While he was on his way back up, he slowly strolled over to the room and handed to coffees off to his brother-in-law before coming back into the room. Regardless of how he felt about the current state of his ex-wife, he had to be there out of obligation. If that was him there in the bed, he would like to think Christina would come out be there for Nathan. Her son was her world, and she would do anything for the boy. That was part of the problem as Nathan abused that as much as he could to get away with a lot of stuff Peter would never tolerate. If this was going to be the end of the line for Christina, it was also going to be the end o the line for Nathan’s shenanigans. The boy was only fifteen, but he was out at a party at ten at night, asking his mother to pick up his drunken ass. It was easy to blame Nathan for the accident, but he wasn’t driving the car that ran a red light, so he was completely blameless for this incident. If the other driver had not gotten distracted and respected their car and the road, no one would be here hoping for a miracle. Peter realized this wasn’t the time to think about that, as he was still hoping for the best. He wanted Christina to wake up and talk to them, give everyone waiting a sign that things are not as bad as the doctors told them it was. Peter took a seat and offered to keep watch, much to the relief of those who had been sitting there for hours. They took a cup of the coffee each that Peter had brought up and walked out of the room, leaving Peter alone with his first wife and the tragedy that lie before them. He took a deep breath, and wiped away a tear as he couldn’t bear the idea that someone he once loved more than life itself might not make it through the night. He sat there silently and waited patiently for a sign, but it never came. About a half hour later there was a commotion in the hallway. Peter stood up as he recognized the voice.
“I want to see my Mom!” the boy cried out from the hallway. “I want to see her right now!”
Peter got up from his seat and walked out of the room to greet his son. It had been months since he had seen Nathan, but it wasn’t by his doing. He had tried to meet up with Nathan on several occasions for lunch, dinner or even just a movie to hang out. Lately, the rebellious part of him was putting all his revolt chips in Peter’s basket so communication between the two had been at an all time low. That was about to change.
“Nathan,” Peter called out. “She’s in here.”
Nathan recognized the voice and turned to face the old man he hated with every fiber of his body. “What is he doing here?”
“I’m here because I care,” Peter said, choosing not to respond to his anger. “We’re all here because we care about your mother. She’s in here Nathan, but I have to warn you: it doesn’t look good.”
“What?” Nathan said, looking around to everyone else in the hallway. His uncle and aunt were there to nod and confirm what the doctors have been telling them.
Her aunt hugged him. “She’s in a coma. I’m so sorry, dear.”
Peter was smart enough to not even try, so he stepped aside and watched as his son strolled right past him without even acknowledging his existence. Nathan took the seat Peter had been sitting in and took his place by his mother’s side. Peter stayed out in the hallway at first, knowing that Nathan wanted alone time with his mother. That’s what he would want if he was in that situation, so he was respectful enough to back away at least for that moment. As Peter was walking away from the room, one of the doctors grabbed his arm.
“Mr. Anderlini, can you please come with me.” The doctor asked.
“What is it?” Peter asked as he wanted to follow the family into Christina’s room.
“According to her will,” The doctor started, “You are listed as the person with her power of attorney. You’re in charge of the situation here.”
Peter stood there and realized what might be coming. “Why are you bringing this up now? What exactly are you trying to tell me?”
“I’m very sorry Mr. Anderlini,”The doctor started, “but there’s no brain activity. I’m afraid she’s already gone.”