The Coast is Clear (Breakaway Shores #1)

Zander

Flashing Lights

Something dripped, and the incessant sound aggravated the pounding in my head. A child’s cry, Kingston’s, shook me out of whatever daze I was in. “Mommy!” He was screaming and Izzy’s head was limp against the steering wheel.

What the hell happened? The passenger side door was illuminated so brightly, and I glanced behind me to see a car shoved into the side of the van. Christian’s little head was hanging off to the side, and I panicked. I clicked my seatbelt, turned around, and grabbed his hand. “Christian? Christian?”

He moved his head a tiny bit, groaning. “, is he died?” Kingston asked me, and I saw his terrified eyes.

“No, no.” I reached over and grabbed his knee, giving it a squeeze. “He’s alive. He’s okay.”

“What happened?” Kingston sniffled.

“I think we got in a car crash,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm.

Without any pause, he said, “Daddy died in a car crash.”

“I know.”

I turned around and brushed a piece of Izzy’s hair out of her face. I didn’t know the right thing to do. I reached for my phone in my pocket and dialed 911. Kingston was whimpering in the seat behind me, and I reached my hand back to him. His tiny fingers held onto mine, gripping me so tightly as I spoke to the female voice who answered the call. I couldn’t tell her where we were. I’d been asleep. But she used my cell phone to find us. Now, we just needed to wait.

“I’m going to get out of the car, Kings. But I’m coming over to you, okay?” He was terrified, and I didn’t blame him.

The door handle stuck, and I had to shove my shoulder into the door to get it to pop open. My legs were a little bit like jelly when I stepped out. We were in the middle of the road, and it wasn’t a curved spot. Thank goodness. The truck that hit us looked older, and it was hard to see the little dirt road it had come out of. Why hadn’t the driver seen our van? I walked over to the passenger window and saw a man hunched over the steering wheel. Help was coming, and I needed to get to Kingston. Everything else around us was dark, the headlights illuminating the gravel in front of the van. The driver’s side of the van wasn’t affected, and Kingston’s door slid open with ease. He was wiggling in his seat, stretching his hands out to me with panic on his face. “, hold me, please.”

My hands shook as I unbuckled him, his tiny arms flailing in the air. “I’m here, buddy.” As soon as I got him free, he locked his arms around my neck, his legs wrapping around my sides. It was at that moment that I saw Luke. His head was resting against the glass of the passenger side window, but it was the blood covering half of his face that made me sick with worry.

No. No. No.

Okay, it was going to be okay. The paramedics were coming. Christian stirred in his seat, and his head popped up. “Mommy!” his voice calling out the same way Kingston had. But Izzy didn’t move. It took everything in me to remain calm for these boys, to not shake Izzy with both of my hands until she opened her eyes. I didn’t want to hurt her anymore if she was already hurt. I didn’t want to make this any worse. This nightmare.

“Buddy, I’m right here,” I said, leaning into the van.

His eyes landed on mine, and tears dripped down his cheeks. “Where’s my mommy?”

“She’s right here, buddy. It’s okay. She’s right here, and she’s gonna be okay.” My voice shook, and I held Kingston tighter, his face pressed into my neck.

“Does anything hurt, Christian?”

“What happened? ”

“We got in a car crash, like Daddy!” Kingston cried, lifting his head up just enough to speak.

Christian’s face changed immediately, his lip trembling. “It’s okay. We’re all okay.” I reassured him.

The sirens echoed in the distance, and relief rushed through me. They were coming. They would help us so that these boys didn’t have to lose anyone else. Christian laid his head back in his seat and began to cry. Not sobbing, not screaming, just a tiny cry that broke my heart all the same.

“I’m going to go stand behind the van, so that I’m not in the road when the ambulance gets here. I’m not leaving, okay?” Christian’s eyes were closed as I spoke, but they popped open when I said the word leaving .

“No, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me, please.”

The lights of the fire truck were visible now, shining on the darkness around us. “Okay, I’m right here.”

I leaned into the van as much as I could but kept my eyes on the lights. Everything moved fast once the truck skidded to a stop at the rear of the van. A handful of firefighters rushed over to me, “Can you check out the two in here first? His mother and his uncle are both unconscious.” I tried to speak quietly so as not to alert Kingston.

She nodded and went to the driver’s side. Christian cried, and I leaned into the van, stepping one foot into it so I could reach him better. “It’s okay, buddy. It’s okay.”

Another firefighter came around the back of the van, and I stepped out of the way. “He’s unconscious, in the back seat. But could you check on Christian, too? He seems okay.”

One of them spoke softly to Christian, flashing a light in his eyes and trying to make jokes. My stomach sank at the sight of the firefighter attending to Izzy calling out for help. I waited for the firefighter to clear Christian, and he carried him out of the van. I grabbed onto him, holding him close as the world seemed to close in around us. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t happening.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, guys,” I kept saying it over and over as the two boys clung to me. The two boys who were in my life because of Izzy. Izzy who came into my life without any warning and turned everything right side up. Who opened her heart and her boys’ life to me. She’d panicked on our trip, but I wasn’t planning on giving up that easily. I wasn’t going to leave her.

I needed the chance to show her that.

It had to be okay.