Losing Him (Mitchell Family #8)(35)

Scissor Sounds, this is Miranda.

Is Amy there? I didn’t want to talk to Miranda. She caused all of this shit to be happening.

No, can I take a message?

Does she have a cell phone? How do I get in touch with Conner?

Is this a personal matter?

Yes. It’s very important.

Conner is in the house. Hold on.

I waited for more than five minutes before he picked up the phone.

Hello, this is Conner.

Conner, this is Jessie. You know, Heather’s boyfriend. The reason I’m calling is because…

Jessie, you don’t know what happened, do ya?

What do you mean? What happened?

I’m afraid I have some bad news.

About Heather? Have you seen her?

She’s been in an accident. The ambulance took her last night. The girls searched her purse and couldn’t find a phone. They went by the house, but you weren’t anywhere to be found.

Where is she now? Is she alright?

Amy and Van went to the hospital a couple hours ago. I haven’t heard from them in a while.

How did it happen?

Listen man, you need to get here. None of that matters right now.

We exchanged numbers and Conner agreed to come pick me up from the airport. Without getting Jacob upset, I took him to my parents and explained the situation. Since they didn’t know about our fight, they didn’t ask why I was so worried. I think they knew all along that I’d end up getting back with her. It was only a matter of time.

I made it to the airport two hours later and the next flight wasn’t for another hour. The wait was killing me and the guilt was making me regret every negative word that had come out of my mouth about Heather. She’d needed me and I wasn’t there for her.

I didn’t know how Conner knew about the accident, but if I had to guess, I’d say she went there to get into it with them. She had nothing else to lose once I walked out of that door. I’d been such a fool and now her life could be on the line. If Heather died, I’d never forgive myself.

I’d called Conner and let him know when my flight was arriving and thanked him again for being a decent guy. He didn’t have to help me. God knows that the family didn’t care much for Heather, yet they seemed to be genuinely good people.

Once I was in the air, I began assuming the worst. If she didn’t make it, how would I tell our son? He’d hated me for taking him away from her. This would have been my fault. Had I just stayed, she never would have been in the accident. She’d be safe and with the both of us, instead of fighting for her life.

I had to get to her. She had to know that I changed my mind. She had to know that I was willing to do whatever it took for us to be together.

As the flight landed, I was a nervous wreck. Conner picked me in one of the farm trucks and let me know that the hospital was only a ten minute ride from the airport. I wasn’t that familiar with the town of surrounding cities to know my way around.

He was quiet at first, saying nothing about what happened.

“I appreciate you doing this for me. I’m sorry to burden you with all of this. I know you don’t want anything to do with her.”

“Look man, Amy and I have talked a lot about this. Heather was hot for Ty and sure, she went off the deep end, but that’s been years now. She risked her life for my wife and we’re grateful. Just because she has issues with my sister, doesn’t mean we feel the same way. At the end of the day, we all need to forgive. Life is too damn short.” Conner’s words rubbed me the wrong way.

“What happened?”

“We were hanging out in the old barn with the family. The kids were all over at Ty’s mothers having a sleepover. We heard someone pullin’ down the lane and the next thing we knew, Heather is barging into the barn in a weddin’ dress. She was lit man. Her ass was so drunk I could smell it from across the room.”

“Did you tell her to leave? Please tell me you didn’t let her drive like that.”

“Of course not!” He shook his head and pulled onto another road. “Ty tried to talk to her. She was going on and on about him ruining her life. It was a good thing my sister wasn’t there. It could have gotten even worse.”

I couldn’t listen to him anymore. I needed answers, not details. “Conner please. What happened to Heather? I’m going crazy over here.”

“She got mad and ran to her car. Ty went after her, but she had left it runnin’. The next thing we all knew she was flying down that dirt road and into a tractor trailer. It t-boned the vehicle.”

My stomach knotted up when I thought about Heather being hit directly with a tractor trailer. It was hard to keep the tears from entering my burning eyes. Somehow, this was my fault. I sent her over the edge. “Oh God!”

“Amy and Van spent the night at the hospital. They only came home to change their clothes. They haven’t been able to go in and see her, but they’ve been there, waiting. She hasn’t been alone, Jessie.”



“What are the doctors saying?” It still didn’t make me feel any better.

“They won’t talk to anyone unless they are family and until she regains consciousness, they wouldn’t let them in the room.”

It was bad. It was very bad. “I’ll get in that room, I don’t give a shit what I have to do.”