Mom: Drake, call me. Something has happened.
Mom: Drake, this is serious. You need to call me, now.
Finally, one last text, sent only two minutes before I picked up my phone.
Mom: There's been an accident. Shannon and Ava are in the hospital, it's bad. Get here now!
The world around me no longer felt real. Landon walked up behind me, took one look at me and his eyes flashed concern.
“Dude, what's wrong?” he asked.
“I need to go,” I said, though the words didn't seem to be coming from me. “There's been an accident.”
“Everything okay?” Landon asked.
“I dunno. Shannon and Ava... Oh God,” I said.
My knees turned to rubber, and I almost fell but managed to hold onto the wall for support. My baby girl and my wife, my whole world.
It’s bad. Those two words from my mom echoed around my mind, drowning me a little more with each passing moment.
“Come on, let me drive you,” he said.
I couldn't argue. I couldn't even breathe. The world was suffocating me, literally. I felt a heavy weight was on my chest, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't take a breath. There was no way I could drive.
The ride over to the hospital had been a blur. Landon dropped me off at the emergency room door to go find parking. My legs were like jelly, and I stumbled into the hospital, holding on to everything I could for support. I was swerving around so much, I probably looked drunk. A nurse at the counter looked up at me and smiled politely. I remembered thinking that she had a nice smile. Why in the hell had I thought that?
“What can I help you with?” she asked.
Her name tag said, Tina.
“Tina, I was told my wife and daughter had been in an accident,” I said.
Her smile wavered as if she knew exactly who I was talking about. A voice called to me from down the hall.
“Drake.”
It was my mom. When she saw me, she burst into tears. I refused to give into my emotions. Everything was fine. My girls were fine.
“Oh sweetie,” mom said, burying her head in my shoulder. “I'm sorry.”
“Sorry for what, Mom?” I asked.
I didn't ask if they were alive or okay because they had to be. They just had to be. I just needed to know what happened so I could start processing it all and figuring out how we were going to move forward. Together. As a family.
“We're not sure yet, but it looks like they were hit by a drunk driver,” she said. “Driver died on impact and Shannon... ”
Her voice trailed off, her words turning to sobs.
“Shannon?” I asked. “Can I see her?”
Mom shook her head. “Shannon didn't make it, sweetie.”
The room went dark.
I couldn't remember what happened after that, or how I ended up being held up by Landon. My world went black, and my vision wavered badly. Landon had ahold of my shoulders when I came to, and I could hear my mom's sobs echoing through the waiting room. Tina, the nurse with the nice smile, came over to us and offered to show us to the chapel, to give us a little privacy.
“No,” I said, my voice barely a croak. “I need to see my baby girl.”