BAD NEWS (FOUR)

"I'm glad you came." Buckling her seatbelt, Blakely turned to Rebecca who was now in the car with her.

As agreed last night, this afternoon Rebecca will accompany Blakely to Decatur to buy some ceramic tableware. Rebecca had come to the restaurant at ten o'clock earlier. A few minutes after Nickson and Antonio left the restaurant. At first, Blakely suspected that Nickson might tell Rebecca about his visit with Antonio. But apparently, Rebecca didn't know about Nickson's presence at all when she tried to ask covert questions to check Rebecca's honesty. So yeah... Nickson's presence wasn't planned. But she was very pleased to know that Nickson's assessment of her restaurant was quite satisfactory. Although it was not done openly, the man implied that her restaurant had a beautiful design.

“The clam pasta you made earlier was delicious. I'll have to ask for the recipe after this."

"It's not a special recipe, my dear sister. Have you forgotten that mother used to make clam pasta?”

There was one car that overtook her car when she was about to turn left through the intersection. It turns out that people don't miss the chance to go outside at all when the weather is so nice this afternoon. Because of that now the condition of the road becomes very crowded. Blakely couldn't speed up the car at all and had to settle for twenty miles per hour.

“I don't remember if mom used to cook clam pasta. Uh, my memory is really bad.”

"It's one of my Dad's favorite foods. But you used to be a super busy girl. There's always something you used to have to do, whether it's at school or in a church youth group."

“Ahh… I remember that. You always refuse to join us. I always offer you to join. Our group used to be understaffed you know?”

Blakely chuckled remembering the past. “I used to be very shy. Even now I’m still shy.”

“But you managed to control it really well. I was surprised to learn of your very drastic change. When our father and mother died, you immediately made a big decision to pursue your dreams in the culinary field. No one can stop you from getting what you want. Even though you used to be known as a shy girl.”

She was not at all impressed by Rebecca's praise. Indirectly Rebecca also slipped satire in the praise given to her. Even though many years have passed, in fact, Rebecca still thinks of her as a selfish girl.

“At that time if I had postponed just a few days to stay at home after the death of our Dad and mom, I might have canceled my plan. Honestly, I find it hard to leave the house that has been the most comfortable place for a shy girl like me for years. Just imagine how much time I spend at home compared to you, Rebecca. I'm not a super busy girl like you. Most of my time is spent in that house with Mom and Dad.”

Rebecca managed to catch a bit of bitterness in her sister's emotional voice. Maybe she had misjudged Blakely all along. Especially after she got a little incitement from Nickson last night. But deep down she firmly believed that Blakely couldn't have had such petty thoughts about leaving home if she didn't feel like she had to leave to pursue her future. Unbeknownst to her, Blakely had been harboring her sadness over the sudden deaths of their father and mother. Blakely didn't seem like the one who chose to cry for days in front of their relatives who came to their house to offer their condolences. Blakely always hides her sadness without ever sharing it with anyone.

"Sorry that I wasn't there for you all this time."

With a smile, Blakely turned to Rebecca “I was never there for you either. That's why I'm so grateful you got Nickson as your husband. He's the right guy and of course, loves you very much."

Without saying anything, Rebecca just smiled slightly in response to Blakely's words.

They were then both silent while waiting for the traffic light to turn green. After that sensitive talk, both Rebecca and Blakely, they both needed a few minutes to reflect on their attitude towards each other so far. But unable to stand the silence that suddenly enveloped them, Blakely finally spoke at the same time the traffic light had turned green.

“How did you and Nickson meet—”

Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnn

Blakely's words hung in the air. The sound of a long horn startled her and broke her concentration in an instant. Her ears buzzed along with the extremely loud honking sound around her and the loud crashing sound which was very deafening.

Her body jerked forward. Her head hit the hard windshield, but a second later the windshield shattered into pieces raining down on her body. Her whole body was in a lot of pain. She wanted to move, but something caught her leg as well as her body which was still attached to the driver's seat because the seat belt was wrapped around her entire body.

Blakely struggled to get out of the wrecked car. People outside began to scatter towards her car with various expressions of panic. But she kept trying to free herself from her chair. Her bloodied hands tried to remove the seat belt from her body. She turned to the right, sad to see the condition of her sister who was seriously injured. Her head was bleeding, and her eyes were closed. Her sister's lips still curled into a faint smile, a trace of a shy smile because she had asked a tantalizing question about her relationship with Nickson before her car crashed.

After that Blakely couldn't see anything clearly anymore. Even her ears were ringing now like there were thousands of bees flying in her ears. Apart from that, she could only hear the sound of her car's engine whistling along with the appearance of white smoke that looked like winter fog. Her head hurts. Blood trickled down from her temples to her eyes, but she hadn't lost consciousness. She could still feel her ten fingers tingling on the steering wheel and gripping the steering wheel tightly as if she was looking for a grip on her wobbly body.

"Rebecca."

Her hoarse voice tried to call out to Rebecca who didn't respond at all. Through the corner of her eye, she could see Rebecca's body was pinned against the body of the car and there was blood all over her face and neck.

Blakely choked with fear. Cold sweat dripped down the back of her neck and forehead. She tried her best to get out of the driver's seat which luckily wasn't too damaged. Only the shattered windshield rained down on her, but the steering wheel wasn't as shattered as Rebecca's.

She was finally able to push the door on the left which was a little stuck with her feet which were in excruciating pain. But some people then pulled her hand to immediately pull over to the sidewalk, while others tried to save Rebecca, who was now in a poor condition.

"Please save my sister."

Blakely's voice was almost a whisper amid the commotion of those who witnessed how the accident happened.

Her car was hit by a truck from the right that was speeding across the intersection. Even though the traffic light in that lane should have been red, the driver was probably in such a hurry that he tried to run through the red traffic light.

"The ambulance has arrived. You must be treated immediately.”

"No. I want to wait for my sister until she gets out of my car.”

“You are injured, miss. Your sister will be treated by the medical team as soon as possible."

"She's in a pinch," Blakely whispered hoarsely. With a shuffle, she was led by a man in a white uniform to get into the ambulance.

Once again she had become a selfish woman who left her sister there alone with the people trying to pull her out of the wrecked car.

"Miss, can you tell us what your name is?"

“Blakely... Blakely Stander. And…” Blakely's breath began to falter. The pain and panic attacks made her breath hitched to the point that she was unable to speak fluently. “—Rebecca Darragh.”

“Miss, do you want to lie down? Miss… Miss… Miss Stander…”

She could still faintly hear the sound of the medical team calling her name. But the pain that hit her head felt like the stab of a thousand nails. She couldn't stand the pain. She wanted to sleep for a while to forget the throbbing pain in her head. Hopefully, when she wakes up she will feel better. Or she might never wake up again for good.

-00-

As soon as Blakely woke up, she was greeted by a sterile atmosphere, all dominated by white. The window with the white curtains waving in the wind became the first target for Blakely's eyes to see what was out there. She knew she was in the hospital right now after the accident that happened to her this afternoon. But she didn't know how long she had been lying in this room. If she looks at the golden light that is refracted through the window, she can be sure that at this time the sun is almost setting and soon night will come. But is it still the same day as the accident? She could have been unconscious for days because the last thing she remembered was being in the ambulance. Then she didn't remember anything after arguing with the medical team about Rebecca's condition.

Rebecca...

Blakely immediately sat up. The consequence of her movement was that she felt pain all over her body. She quickly removed the blanket that covered part of her body to check her current physical condition. A bad thought had been running through her mind a moment ago about her leg, but then she could breathe a sigh of relief when she found neither bandage nor a plaster cast on her leg.

From where she was sitting she could see the tips of her bare toes. Her fingers are still intact. She could still feel the smooth surface of the sheet under her feet. That means there were no serious injuries to her legs. The nerves are still functioning properly.

Then she touched her head. There was a bandage on her right temple which she managed to feel. Maybe one of the broken window glasses had cut the skin on her temple. But other than that, she felt her body was fine. The pain she was currently feeling must have come from the bruises all over her body from the heavy impact that had occurred when the accident occurred. Not a fatal condition.

With a sense of trepidation, she then lowered her feet from the comfortable hospital bed. She needed to get out of the room to confirm Rebecca's condition. Since then her heart has been praying for Rebecca, hoping that her condition is not worse than she thought now because the last memory she could remember, she saw Rebecca pinned in the car with blood seeping down from her head to her neck.

No! Blakely couldn't play the memory any further. The more she remembered Rebecca's condition, the more she felt afraid of Rebecca's condition. The big truck hit right on the side of the car where Rebecca was sitting. Rebecca was hit by a truck indirectly and then... then...

Blakely stopped all the bad thoughts and limped towards the door taking a deep breath. She tried to grab the doorknob in front of her with trembling hands. But before she could pull the wooden door open, someone outside pushed open the door to her infirmary and nearly knocked her over if she didn't quickly cling to the wall beside her.

“Nickson,” Blakely whispered hoarsely.