Night Road

She mumbled, “Huh?” to her best friend and reached over for Mia, but there was no one beside her. Lexi woke slowly, blinking. Something was wrong. Where was she?

She tried to sit up and felt a sharp pain in her chest. It hurt so badly she cried out.

“Alexa?” Eva got up. She’d been in a chair by the window, reading.

“Where am I?” Lexi asked, frowning.

Eva moved closer. “The hospital. ”

The two words stopped time. Lexi remembered everything in a rush of images: the car’s white hood hurtling forward; the tree, burned white by the headlights; Mia’s screaming; smoke; the sound of shattering glass …

“We crashed,” she whispered, turning to look at her aunt. One look in Eva’s sorrow-filled eyes and she knew it was bad. Lexi threw back the covers and started to get out of bed.

Eva grabbed her good wrist and held firm. “Don’t, Lexi. You’ve got a broken rib and a fractured arm. Just be still. ”

“I need to see Zach and Mia—”

“She’s gone, Lexi. ”

Lexi sagged with relief. “Thank God. When did she leave? And how’s Zach?”

“Mia died, Lexi. I’m sorry. ”

Died.

Gone.

Lexi couldn’t seem to comprehend the words. How could it be? She felt Mia beside her, leaning close, whispering, don’t let me be alone. I might do something stupid. It had been a moment ago, a second. Can I sit with you? “No,” she whispered. “Don’t say that…”

Eva shook her head, and there it was, wrapped in the silence like some sleeping snake that had just been poked. The truth lashed out.

The car. The crash. Dead.

No. No.

“That can’t be true,” Lexi whispered. Mia was part of her; how could only one of them survive? “I’d feel it, wouldn’t I? It can’t be true. ”

“I’m sorry. ”

Lexi slumped back. She glanced over at the door and expected to see Mia there, dressed in some weird getup, her arms crossed, her hair braided unevenly, smiling that smile of hers and saying, hola amiga, what should we do?

Then she sat up. “Zach?”

“I don’t know,” Eva said. “He was burned. That’s all I know. ”

Burned.

“Oh my God,” she said. “I don’t remember any fire. ”

Burned.

“Tell me what happened,” Eva asked gently, holding Lexi’s hand.

Lexi lay back, feeling as if her soul had been scooped out of her body with a ragged blade. If she could have willed herself into nonexistence, she would have. Please God, let him be okay. How could she live otherwise?

How could she live without Mia?

* * *