Chapter 4: Collision Course

Travis

“Any news yet?” Nathan's voice drifts from the other side of the phone, “Have you heard from…?”

I shrug, swirling the wine in my glass. “Not yet.”

“But it's been years, Travis,” Nathan says. “You don't even remember her face. Or her name.”

“But I remember how I felt,” I murmur, a sad smile creeping onto my lips. “That night was the only time I've felt that way with another except Serena.”

Nathan sighs. “Who chases an unknown shadow for Five years?”

“A man who has nothing else that makes sense." I answer with a lower voice now.

He softens, his tone calmer. “There are still good women out there. Women who'd treat you better, if…”

“If I just let go?” I cut in, a bitter chuckle slipping through. “I already did that once. You saw how it ended.”

He fell silent for a beat. “Serena betrayed you, yes I'm aware. But not every woman is like her.”

My grip on the glass tightens. The pain is still there, buried under ambition and denial. “I know. But I can't fake closure.”

Nathan groans lightly. “You don't even know this girl. One night in a hotel room and she's tattooed on your soul?”

“You weren't there,” I whisper. “She didn't even ask for anything. She just…left even though I was an inch away. Her blur still etches in my mind.”

“And you think she's out there waiting for you? You think she'd accept you now even if you find her and explain your feelings?”

“No.” I admit. “But I'm not searching for her to reclaim that night. I'm just…hoping she's okay.”

“You're a romantic fool, you know that?”

I chuckle. “Hope has kept me sane, Nathan.”

“Then good luck to you and your mysterious stranger,” he says with a sigh. “I'll let you. Safe drive to Emberville.”

“Thanks.”

The line clicks off.

I exhale slowly and drop my phone, then swallow the last of my wine, and close my eyes briefly, before sinking deeper into the lounge chair.

Everyone says I need to move on, but how do I move from something that never had a name, yet it carved itself into my chest like truth?

Grabbing my keys, I walk down to the garage. I get into my Porsche Cayenne and pull onto the busy road to Emberville town for a routine site inspection.

A few hours later…

I'm done with what I came for and heading back home.

The road fills with people rushing from work. The sound of horns and revving engine slaps the air.

But just then I notice something in my side mirror, a black SUV with tinted windows.

With ease, It drives through the traffic and follows me closely as I approach the intersection of Main and Elm.

At first, I think I'm being paranoid… but the car sticks to me, mimicking every turning I make.

“Hello…” I speak into the phone, my voice tight. “Track my car and get me the information of the person tailing me.”

“Yes boss,” the voice replies immediately.

I hang up and make a sharp U-turn, hoping to lose whoever it is.

But that's when it happens.

The SUV catches up with me. It hits my car from behind and I lose control.

My car swerves fast, running out of lane.

I slam the breaks, heart in my throat.

But it is too late then.

It hit a small school boy.

The thud is sickening, his small frame crumples on the impact.

My head jerks forward from the sudden stop and hits the steering wheel. A sharp pain splits through my skull, and blood begins to trickle down my face, blurring my vision.

The SUV then speeds past like smoke without any further hesitation.

In seconds, a small crowd gathers, drawn by the sound of screeching tires and shouting voices.

I open my car door and stumble out with blood dripping down my face.

Everything spins.

And then my eyes fell on her.

Her scream cuts through the noise with ease.

“Liam! My baby!” She shouts, running forward, and pushing people aside.

I freeze.

Panic surging up in my nerve.

“Someone call 911,” a voice shouts from somewhere behind me.

My legs grow heavy, barely holding me upright as I stumble toward the body on the ground.

Blood drips from my forehead, clouding my vision.

I didn't mean for this to happen.

Forcing my sight to clear, I blink hard and that's when I see him.

He lay still on the wet ground, a man kneeling beside him, compressing his chest, trying to breathe life back into him.

No…

My heart pounds in fear. Threatening to erupt from my ribcage.

Then, as if remembering I exist, she snaps her head up and her gaze fixes on me in anger.

She staggers to her feet and grabs the front of my shirt, with trembling hands.

“He's all I've got left in this world,” she beats my chest weakly over and over, her tears shattering something inside me. “Why would you take him from me? Why?!”

“I didn't see him I swear, I didn't…” my voice cracks. “There was a car…someone was chasing me. I didn't mean…”

But my words sound very unnecessary.

“The ambulance is here!” a voice calls.

Red lights flashes and the wail of the siren grows louder. A paramedic team rushes in with a stretcher.

She lets go of me, as if drains of all strength, and turns back to her son.

The medics place the boy gently on the stretcher. His arms flop loosely. No response

“We'll perform CPR in transit. Possibly intubation if need be,” one of them says, almost mechanically. “ Due to space, we cannot permit an extra passenger.”

The woman stands abruptly. “No. No, I'm coming with him.”

“I'm sorry, ma'am,” the paramedic replies. Wheeling the boy into the ambulance, and slams the doors shut. “We need room to work.”

“You'll drive me.” she turns and says as she comes facing me, her eyes full of desperation.

I nod without saying a word. There's nothing to say. I don't even know how I'm still standing.

We both get into my car.

The ambulance speed off ahead of us, wailing its siren like a scream.

She sit beside me sobbing with a breaking breath, clenching the edge of the seat shakingly.

I wonder, what if I've just destroyed the only good thing left in her life?

Guilt twists my stomach.

The boy's frame flashes in my mind like a punch. I don't care about the car that tailed me.”

Right now, I can only hope I haven't just killed someone's son.