Chapter Nine

Marianne still couldn’t believe what just happened, as she drove away she glanced into the side window to see if Greg was waiting for her to leave or running to the car to stop them.

He just stood there, motionless, straight faced and blunt. She couldn’t make out what emotions he was showing from that distance but deep down she knew he was waiting for this day, but if she was frank with herself, so was she. 10 years of a lifeless meaningless relationship? What was she doing?

Now all she had to think of was how to survive on her own with her little Rose, the first step was to find Nurse Lucy and see what happened from there. Only God knew what lay ahead.

“You okay sweetie?”, she checked her mirror to see what Rose had been doing in the back so quiet.

Marianne was shocked to see that she was flat asleep holding her favorite stuffed doll, the one she called princess Mickayla. Such a sweet site she could shed a tear, but that was not necessary especially since she was driving and needed a lot of focus.

As she drove passed the last houses of her now former neighborhood, Marianne noticed one of the restaurants Greg use to take her to before he became “Mr busy all the time”.

It was their favorite place to visit and enjoy each others company with so much love and without thinking about what to do with their lives or what’s next. It was just them and a juicy Menu to choose from. But Marianne remembered one night that was not as dreamy as the others, you could call it the start of a failed relationship.

Two years into their relationship...

“I’ll never get tired of this place, so peaceful...”, Marianne said so relaxed with a deep breathe of relief

“It IS one of the best, and I only give the best to the best”, Greg agreed with a compliment added on, raised his eyebrow and stared right into her eyes knowing that always sent chills down her spine.

And for sure Marianne blushed and couldn’t keep her cheeks from turning red,

“Oh you, stop you’re embarrassing me”, she said so shy.

“Maybe one day our kids will have the privilege of coming here huh? One big happy family celebrating every occasion, imagine having to combine two tables”, she chuckled as she imagined how she would like the future to look. She paused for a second because she could not hear Greg reply to what she had said and looked at him.

Greg, speechless as he was, just looked at her like he was waiting for her to finish. He wanted to say something but he didn’t want to ruin the moment because he saw stars in her eyes as she plotted their life together in that single minute,

“What are you ordering tonight?”, he held the menu up to his face like he did not hear a single word she said.

Marianne was shocked at his reaction and started to wonder what exactly his future plans were with her,

“I just have to ask...”, she interrupted him.

“Are we even going to get married someday?”, she asked with a subtle tone seeing that they were in public.

Greg put down the menu that was held to his face like a mask and gave a strange look, one that indicated he had already explained everything to her before.

Having grown up in a broken family of not so supportive siblings, always bickering parents and indifference his whole life, marriage felt like an unnecessary step to take-which he had already explained to Marianne in the first months of their relationship.

But it looked like Marianne thought she would change his mind, so he repeated,

“You know my views on marriage, we don’t need that. We are happy just like this, you and I, enough time for each other, having the best time of our lives and in love, right?”, he placed his hand above hers and looked her right in the eyes waiting for that confirmation.

Marianne equally didn’t want to ruin the evening so she politely agreed and started looking at the menu for what to eat.

She thought to herself, "one day I will change your mind", and that cheered her up a bit. Little did she know that some men had to learn the hard way.

Marianne quickly came back to the present and heard a sound in the distance travelling so fast it struck her ear drums in a second, she turned to her right and was jolted to see a huge construction like truck headed right for them while hooting and trying to stop before there was a collision. With how close Marianne was to the road without realizing, it was too late to change course and hit the brakes.She braced for impact and prayed her baby would survive what was next, nothing else could be done.

In a split second the truck collided with her car and it sent them flying of the road, tumbling down a small hill at least five times and into a blue Jacaranda tree that brought them to a stop.

Marianne, disoriented, laid back on her seat covered in cuts and bruises and a massive migraine, tried to get out of her seat belt to check if Rose was still there and hopefully still alive because not a sound came out of her as the car found its way down the hill. She was crying and confused but the only thing she wanted to do was to get out of that damn seat belt that would not budge and head to the back to her little girl.

"Rose! Rose can you hear me?!", she cried out to her motionless body faced down, upside down and half way off the seat, it looked like her foot had been twisted the other way and she as as well took a few hits and cuts from the windows cause she was covered in blood. Marianne felt an intense pain in her arm and didn't realize that she too was cut badly, nearly half her arm from the shoulder going down was cut up like it was being sliced up but that didn't stop her from reaching Rose who was still unconscious. She finally found her way out and crawled to the back, picked Rose up and placed her on her lap and checked for a heartbeat.

Marianne let out a cry of relief, Rose was still breathing but unable to wake up no matter how hard Marianne tried to wake her. And in that moment, some people made their way down the hill, including the truck driver, to help them get out.

"Miss are you okay? Oh my goodness...", a kind civilian looked up the hill and yelled, "HURRY THERE'S A CHILD IN HERE!".

"Ma'am, just hang on, the paramedics are already here. Is she breathing?", a young woman from the other window asked as she was trying to open the door but it was hit in so bad that it simply couldn't.

"Yes", Marianne answered with tears rolling down her cheeks like rivers and breathing heavily.

"Please save my daughter first, I don't want to lose her", she pleaded with the people at the windows,

"please..." she said again faintly as she saw her surroundings go dark and fell unconscious again.