“Imagine the worst case scenario and multiply it by twenty,” I moaned. “She was in full-blown damage control mode. My mom convinced the police to release an official statement saying that I hadn’t been drinking that night, but by the sounds of the conversations she’s been having with my dad, it doesn’t sound like everyone in town is buying the story.”
“Where is your dad?” queried Vanessa. “The garage door was open when we pulled up, but I didn’t see his car.
“He’s still in Arizona,” I said.
Both Carly and Vanessa’s eyes widened at the clarification.
“Wait, you mean he flew back there, right? He did come home to see you,” Carly urged.
I shook my head. “It’s not that big of a deal though. My mom couldn’t get a hold of him until after she already found out I was okay, so by the time they talked, I guess he figured it wasn’t worth flying all the way home. It’s fine.”
Carly gritted her teeth. “Yeah, right.”
“It is, really. He’s in the middle of finalizing a huge merger, so…you know.” The room fell silent, forcing me to address the elephant in the room. “I can’t go.”
“Not feeling well?” asked Vanessa, gently brushing the hair from my eyes.
“It’s my fault.” I hadn’t actually uttered those words out loud since the accident, and the moment I heard them, I buried my face back into my pillows with a sob.
“That’s not true,” Carly assured as V ran a hand up and down my arm. “You weren’t the one behind the wheel.”
“Yeah, and he wouldn’t have been either if it wasn’t for me,” I cried. “Blaine’s dead!”
Vanessa tried soothing me as Carly returned my comforter to the bed.
“It’s all my fault,” I sniveled.
“No one thinks that, and neither should you. The police even said so. There was an animal in the road. It could have happened to anyone,” Carly confirmed. “You can’t blame yourself for that. Accidents are just that; Accidents. We can’t control them no more than we can control the weather. It’s out of our hands. You’re obviously going through survivor’s remorse, but that’s exactly what you should be grateful for. You’re a survivor. Considering how bad the crash was, it’s a miracle you walked away at all, let alone with next to no injuries.” She plopped down next to Vanessa on the bedside. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want. If at any time during the service you feel like it’s too much, we’ll go.”
“It might be good to, you know, be around others who are grieving as well,” added V. “You’re not alone.”
“I’m a total mess,” I murmured.
“We’d figured you would be,” Carly chuckled, flashing me a large department shopping bag.
***
I took a quick shower, and Vanessa helped do my hair as I applied some makeup at my vanity mirror.
“How long were you in the hospital?” she asked hesitantly, continuing to wrap sections of my blonde locks around the barrel of my curling iron.
“About a day and a half.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, the doctors said I only suffered superficial injuries, so they just kept me for observation.”
“You’re lucky,” Vanessa sighed as Carly kept sorting through the lot of clothing options she brought with.
“How about this one?” Carly pulled out a low-cut, black mini dress from the bag.
“Car, it’s a funeral; not a nightclub,” remarked Vanessa. “She cannot go in that.”
“Why not? I’m wearing this.” Carly disrobed from her pea coat, revealing a black haltered dress with a dangerously plunging neckline.
“Are you kidding?” barked V.
“What? It’s still black,” she argued. “And what’s wrong with wanting to look your best?”
“Your best doesn’t require your boobs to be propped up and put on display for everyone to see.”
“Please just give me something,” I finally mumbled. “I’ll take a freaking poncho at this point.”
Vanessa took control from there, handing me a black brocade dress that fell respectfully to the knees. I headed over to the bathroom to change when a loud thud struck the window closest to me. We all shrieked, jumping back from the pane.
“What the hell was that?” yelped Carly.
I hesitantly made my way over to the window, looking down at the ground. A small black clump lay beside the flowerbed below. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“What is it?”
“It looks like a bird flew into the house.”