Touched (The Untouched Trilogy #2)(28)

I was walking into my office as my phone rang. I looked at the phone and saw that it was Lia. I smiled as I tapped answer on the display.

“Hey little sister. Are you guys at the airport? I’m so –” I stopped mid-sentence. Lia was crying.

“Lia. What’s going on?” I asked.

“Aria, something’s happened,” Lia said.

“What is it Lia?” I asked. Her voice was fading in and out and I was starting to worry.

“Aria, I have awful news. It’s Mom. She’s ... she’s …” Her sobs became louder and I couldn’t make sense of her words. Had Mom sank back into her depression? My heart fluttered as I considered the possibility.

“She’s what?” I asked.

Lia was muttering something in between sobs. “Lia, I can’t understand what you’re saying.”

She attempted to explain but again I couldn’t understand anything. I was terrified. I closed the door to my office.

“Lia, where’s Bianca? Can you give the phone to her please?”

There was silence followed by a tremendous amount of rumbling in the background. What the hell was going on?

“Aria?” It was Bianca.

“Bianca, where’s Mom? What’s going on?”

“Aria, I don’t know how to say it,” said Bianca.

“Bianca what is it? Is Mom okay?” I asked. I was beyond panicked now.

She sniffed and replied quietly. “Mom’s gone Aria.”

“Gone? What do you mean gone? Is she missing?”

“No Aria, she’s … dead.”

I froze. I stopped breathing. “What? What do you mean? What did you say Bianca?” I asked, frantically.

I plopped down in the seat at the table, my breathing accelerated. Lia was bawling in the background as Bianca’s quiet sobs resonated through the phone. No. No. This can’t be right.

“I said … Mom’s dead. There was a car accident and it was really horrible. The police was chasing someone in a stolen car and the driver skipped lanes and crashed into her. The car flipped and there was an explosion.” She was silent for several minutes. “When the firemen finally arrived to the scene it was too late. She’d been trapped in the car. When the paramedics pulled her out, her body had been burned beyond recognition.”

I heard the words and I tried to make sense of it, but it simply didn’t make sense to me. This couldn’t be happening. Mom couldn’t be gone. “Maybe there’s some type of mistake. If they couldn’t recognize the body, how do they know it was Mom?” I asked, desperate for another possibility.

“They were able to get the vehicle identification number and locate our address. An officer just left the house giving us all of the details of the accident.”

No. No! I sat there shaking. I didn’t have any words of comfort for my sister. I couldn’t believe this. This couldn’t be happening. Tears were streaming down my face as the finality began to register. Mom was gone. There would be no Thanksgiving. There would be no holidays at all. Ever. It was over.

“Aria. Are you still there?” Bianca asked.

“Yes, I’m here. I’m just … this doesn’t seem real. This can’t be real.”

“We don’t know what to do Aria,” Bianca said, her voice breaking.

“Don’t worry sweetie. I’m on the next flight to Dayton. Is there someone you can call from the church to come over and stay with you until I can get there?”

“Yes, we can call Mrs. Warner.”

“Okay, call her and I’ll be there as quickly as I can. I love you.”

“I love you too Aria. And Aria?”

“Yes?”

“Please hurry. We really need you.”

“I will. I promise. I’ll see you soon okay.”

“Okay,” she replied. The phone went silent. I wiped my eyes and called Raina.



*****



This felt like a nightmare. How did this happen? Why did this happen? After speaking with Bianca, I rushed home and threw some things in a bag and headed to the airport. Raina had quickly scheduled a flight for me and I had only a few minutes to get to the airport in time to get through security.

Beyond the tears I’d shed on the call with Bianca, I was too much in shock to really cry. Instead I was immersed in the regret of all of the lost years. The last few weeks had been the most heart-warming moments I’d had in years with my family. We’d been so happy and hopeful. Now we had nothing.

I called Kellan as soon as I settled at the boarding gate. He answered the phone on the second ring.

“Kellan? Is that you?”

“Yes it’s me.”

“You sound different,” I said.

“I’m dealing with a terrible bout of the flu.”

He sounded horrible. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“No, I’m not. My mother…” I started. I couldn’t say it.

“What is it Aria?”

I took a deep breath, choking back the tears. “My mother was killed this morning in a car accident.” I said the words and I felt as though someone had squeezed the air from my lungs. I kneeled over in pain.

“Aria, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”