“Are you sure you don’t want me to swing around again and give them a few more minutes? I’d pull over and wait, but the cops won’t let me.”
“Nope, I’m good,” I said as he pulled the car to the curb, and I opened the door. “Thanks for the lift, and sorry about dragging you away from Miranda Lynn,” I lied. I wasn’t sorry. I hated that girl, and she was toxic to my friend. Like a cobra being charmed by the pungi. He made stupid decisions when she was around because her pussy entranced his dick, causing Sawyer to do things he typically wouldn’t do when he was thinking straight.
I looked at my watch one more time as Sawyer drove away. Our flight would be boarding in forty-five minutes, and I wondered where my family was. I waited another five minutes, then I tried calling my mom, but she didn’t answer. I rang my dad, but still, no one answered. I paced along the curb for another ten minutes, constantly calling my mom and dad’s phone, but neither picked up. I started to panic when I looked at my watch again. There was no way we could make the flight if they didn’t arrive in the next few moments.
Walking over to the two skycaps, I interrupted their conversation. “Excuse me. I’m supposed to meet my parents here for a flight to Florida. I’ve been waiting for a bit, and they haven’t shown up. Can you check and see if they’ve checked in already? They have my ticket.”
“What’s the last name?” he inquired.
“Gunnar,” I replied.
I watched as he tapped on a keyboard and then shook his head. “Nope, not checked in yet.”
Running my hands through my hair, I began to pace again. I started to redial my mom’s phone when I heard a car horn honk. I turned, expecting to see my parents, but it was Sawyer. He rolled the window down as I walked toward him. “Get in the car; your parents aren’t coming.”
Opening the passenger side door, I slid into the seat. “What do you mean my parents aren’t coming?”
“Hold on,” my best friend replied as he turned his head to look out his window and pulled into the line of cars slowly moving toward their destination to drop their passengers off. “When I left here, I stopped to grab a coffee. I was just pulling up to the drive-through window when my mom called and told me I needed to pick you up and take you to Reston General, and they’d meet us there.”
I had a sick feeling in my stomach when he said Reston General, and I couldn’t help but clench my fists several times as I stared at Sawyer. “That’s it? That’s all you know?”
Sawyer turned to look at me briefly. “That’s it, man. I swear.”
Everything around me moved in slow motion as we made the fifteen-minute drive from the airport to the hospital. Sawyer pulled into a parking space, and I didn’t even wait for him to stop the car before I opened my door and darted out, running toward the entrance to the emergency room. I could see Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt talking to a police officer through the glass double doors. When they opened, I sprinted through the lobby and down the hall to the waiting area. Mrs. Wyatt stepped away from the officer and her husband and wrapped me in her arms.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I held her tight. She’d given me one last squeeze and then pulled away, taking my hand, and leading me to a row of chairs against the wall where Evie sat, just a few feet away from Mr. Wyatt and the officer. Away from prying ears and interruptions.
The Wyatts were like a second set of parents to me. Our families had known each other since I started kindergarten, and that’s where I met Sawyer. “I’m not going to lie to you, Max. It’s not good.”
“Just tell me straight, please.”
Sawyer’s mom patted my hand, placing it in her lap. “We got a call from the police department asking us to pick you up and bring you to the hospital. Your mom was conscious for most of the ambulance ride, so she filled the officer in on what happened.”
“What happened?” I asked as Sawyer took the seat next to me, desperately looking for information just as I was.
“As you know, you were all running late for the airport. Your mom said your dad was driving too fast and yelling at your brother to stop kicking the back of his seat. He took his eyes off the road for one minute and sped through a red light. A delivery truck struck the car on your father’s side, causing the vehicle to flip several times.”
I shook my head in disbelief as the tears began to soak my cheeks. “How bad is it?” When Mrs. Wyatts’ hand started patting my back, I knew the answer, but I didn’t want to believe it until I heard her say it.
“Your father and brother were killed instantly.”
“No,” I cried out, shaking my head before bending over, placing it in my hands, and breaking down. The tears fell hard and fast. While I’d been joking about getting green lights on the way to the airport, a single red one had destroyed my family. My brother Steven was the product of an anniversary vacation to Paris. He’d just turned six a week ago, which was why my parents planned this trip—a Disney vacation to celebrate his birthday and my leaving for college.
“Max?” Mrs. Wyatt spoke. “Talk to me. I know how awful this is.”
I raised my head, glaring at her. “Do you? Your family is all intact while mine is in ruins.”
“Don’t speak to my mom like that,” Sawyer snapped at me. “She’s trying to be here for you.”
I should have kept my mouth shut, but for some ungodly reason, I couldn’t. “Well, she should stop, and this is all your fault.”
“My fault,” Sawyer spat back at me.
“Yeah. Yours. If you hadn’t convinced me to go out last night, I’d have been home, and there would have been no reason they’d be rushing to the airport.”
“Me, convince you,” Sawyer snarled. “It was your idea in the first place—another chance to show off how fabulous Maxim Gunnar is. You’re the irresponsible one, and you knew you had enough to drink but were too arrogant to stop when they challenged you to that third beer bong.”
“Boys!” Mrs. Wyatt snapped. “Stop it, both of you. This is a hard time for Max.”