Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
‘Sir, move aside!’ a paramedic yells, wheeling Ava towards an ambulance.
‘I’m her husband,’ I tell him, scanning her body, trying to comprehend the amount of blood soaking her. Her head is the worst, her long dark hair drenched in red. ‘Is she going to be okay?’ It’s all I can think to ask, and it’s instinctual, because I don’t know if anyone could be okay with this much blood loss. And when I get no answer from any of the rushing paramedics, it becomes clear that they agree with me. A lump in my throat expands as I jog alongside the gurney, tears brimming in my eyes. Her beautiful face is drained of colour underneath the blood coating nearly every inch of her skin. ‘Hold on, baby,’ I demand softly. ‘Don’t you dare leave me.’
‘Mr Ward?’
I look across the bed, seeing a female police officer holding Ava’s bag.
‘PC Barnes. We spoke.’
I nod, casting my eyes back to the ambulance where Ava is being hooked up to all kinds of machinery. ‘She didn’t show up to pick up the kids from school,’ I whisper in a daze of ruin.
‘Mr Ward, come with me. We’ll follow the ambulance.’
‘No, I’m going with Ava.’ I shake my head, harshly wiping away the tears.
‘Mr Ward.’ PC Barnes steps forward, her face soaked in sympathy that I just can’t handle. It’s wasted, because Ava’s going to be okay. Damn it, she’s going to be okay! I look away from the police officer, seeing urgent hands working on her lifeless body. ‘Your wife is in critical condition, Mr Ward. You need to give the paramedics space to do their thing. I’ll get you to the hospital just as fast.’
I close my eyes, praying for some stability in my breaking world. This isn’t the time to be throwing my weight around, though I’m desperate to go on a rampage until someone tells me she’s going to be okay. She has to be okay. I can’t exist without her. The thought alone punches a hole through my chest, and I’m forced to bend and brace my hands on my knees to breathe through the bolts of pain attacking me.
‘Mr Ward?’
I swallow and nod as I stare at the ground, my stomach turning. I could throw up. ‘Okay.’ I breathe, trying to focus on getting air into my lungs. But in my current state, I’m not capable of focusing on anything but my prayers.
‘This way.’ PC Barnes rests her hand on my forearm, gently coaxing me from my daze. But it’s the slam of the ambulance doors that brings me back to the circus surrounding me. I walk with purpose towards the police car, looking back at the mangled mess of metal that was Ava’s Mini. ‘I’ll have a colleague bring your car to the hospital. Do you have the keys?’
I mindlessly tap my pockets down in search of them. ‘They’re in the car,’ I mutter.
‘And you mentioned your children, Mr Ward. Would you like me to have someone collect them?’ She opens the passenger door for me, and I fall into the seat.
‘The twins,’ I say to the windscreen. ‘I said I was on my way. They’ll be wondering where I am.’ I start to rummage through my pocket for my phone. ‘Ava’s friend. I’ll call Ava’s friend.’
I dial Kate without thinking, so when she answers, I’m totally unprepared for what to say and my throat closes up on me, leaving Kate calling my name repeatedly in prompt. What do I say? Where do I start?
‘Jesse, are you there?’ she asks, now full-blown worried. ‘Hello? Jesse?’
PC Barnes gets into the car beside me and looks across at me, where I’m static, my phone hanging limply in my hand.
I cough, clearing my throat, but no matter how hard I try to speak, nothing comes. I can’t talk. Can’t speak the words. Can’t tell Kate that her friend looks like she’s at death’s door. The blood. So much blood. ‘It’s Ava . . .’ My words fade, my eyes clouding over again. ‘I . . .’
PC Barnes takes my phone and switches on her sympathetic, professional tone, speaking calmly as she explains to Kate without too much detail that Ava has been involved in an accident and the twins need to be picked up from school. I hear Kate’s gasp. I hear her agree without question or prying into details of Ava’s condition. She knows.
‘Ask her to call Ava’s parents,’ I mumble. ‘And tell her to tell the twins that Mum’s okay.’ I look across at the ambulance when the sirens come to life and invade my ears. ‘She’s going to be okay.’
After following my request, PC Barnes hangs up and starts the car, pulling out quickly and tailing the ambulance. I just stare at the back doors the whole way. It’s the longest journey of my life.