They all grunt in response but I don’t care if they’re miserable, nothing will bring me down today. Nothing.
I jump into my truck and pull out of the precinct parking lot, turning right and making my way over to the other side of town just as my cell beeps. I click the button on the steering wheel to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Honey!” Ma squeals over the speakers of the car. “Today is the day! You get to see my grandbaby again! Don’t forget pictures!”
“I won’t,” I chuckle and turn left at the intersection.
“We’ve got a ten-fifty on Tame Way, assistance required.”
I frown at the police radio. “Ma, I’ve got to go.” I don’t wait for a reply before I hang up and slam my foot down onto the gas pedal. Tame Way is only two blocks over and I can be on the scene quickly before someone comes to take over.
My heart hammers in my chest as I get closer and I rub at it. This never happens, I never feel this way when called to assist with an accident, but something just doesn’t feel right.
Everything feels like it’s taking too long, like when you’re dreaming and you try to run but it feels like you’re trying to wade through molasses as everything turns into slow-mo and you can’t make your way there without it taking an hour to move one step.
I come to a stop and assess the scene in front of me. There’s three fire trucks and several paramedics blocking the way so I step out of my truck, my hands starting to shake and legs wobbling as my feet hit the ground. Something isn’t right.
I walk around an ambulance and see a dump truck and a three-car pileup with one car stuck under the truck.
“Stay back please, sir,” a firefighter tells me, his hand extended. But I’m not looking at him, I’m looking at the cars that are piled up, my eyes move from them to the back end of the one still jammed right under the dump truck.
The firefighters rush to pull the cars out and then one shouts, “I need help here!”
My head whips to where several of them run and my feet step forward but I’m blocked by an arm again. “Sir, I can’t let you closer. Please step back until we’ve cleared the scene.”
“That… that car.” I stumble on my words, not able to get them out.
I watch as they all rush around for what feels like hours but is only minutes before the car behind the one under the truck is pulled out and I see the license plate.
My heart beats so hard in my chest and I have to clutch it to make sure it’s still there. This isn’t real, it can’t be. A fog descends over me and all I can do is stare at the scene in front of me, watching as they pull the car out and seeing the shocked expressions on their faces.
My eyes flick to the firefighter whose eyes are on the scene in front of us and I take my chance and rush past him, my legs moving faster than they ever have before.
“Sir!”
I ignore him calling me and make it three feet away before I spot her hair. Her soft, golden hair, matted with blood.
“No,” I whisper, taking a step closer. “No!”
Arms come around me from behind, restraining me and I try to get out of his hold, managing to make it two steps before he’s on me again, another person assisting him.
“Mackenzie?”
I turn and see a uniformed officer from the precinct, a tear slipping free and tracking down my face.
“It’s Emmy,” I tell him, not really seeing his face. “It’s Emmy!”
My heart breaks, I can actually feel it being cracked in half and stomped on in my chest. The pain so unbearable that I feel like I can’t breathe. The thought of a world without her in it isn’t one that I want to be in.
“The baby,” I whisper and then I say louder, “the baby!”
“What?” the firefighter asks, his hazel eyes connecting with mine.
“My wife, she’s pregnant! GET HER OUT!”
I struggle against their holds again and I’m not sure whether it’s my strength, them letting me go, or a combination of both but I manage to break their hold and rush forward.