Chasing Cars

The sun had begun to rise, and still John knew nothing about the fate of the girl. The police officers were still milling around, though there were less of them now than there originally had been. None of them had tried to talk to him again and he hadn’t made his move towards them either. His hands toyed with his phone. He hadn’t called anyone yet. He hadn’t even called a towing company about his truck. He knew he’d have to tell people soon. His mother would be worried when she woke up and he wasn’t there. She would be more worried after seeing his untouched dinner, still wrapped up perfectly. She would probably call Halvo or one of the other guys. They would jump to the worst conclusions possible, though after his behavior the last few months John couldn’t really blame them. But he couldn’t bring himself to call or text anyone. Because that would mean admitting that this was real. He would have to admit that he had actually hit an unknown girl with his car and sent her to the hospital where she now lay most likely dying.

A door opened. John’s head snapped up. A doctor strolled into the waiting room. His scrubs were pristine which John wanted to view as a good sign, but he knew the doctor could have just as easily changed clothing before coming out here. In fact that’s probably what he did. No one wanted to hear about the death of their family members while the doctor was covered in their loved one’s blood.

John wasn’t sure just what he was supposed to do. No one had shown up to claim the girl as their own. He was the only one there for her. Just as he moved to stand, the same officer that had questioned him, Officer Stevenson, caught sight of the doctor and walked over to him. John froze, slowly dropping back into his chair. His eyes locked on the pair of them. The waiting room wasn’t busy and John was just close enough that he was able to make out some of the words the men were exchanging.

“She’s stable, for now. She’s not out of the woods yet though. If she can make it through the next 24 hours her chances of survival will be exponentially greater, but it’s doubtful.” The doctor shifted his gaze in John’s direction uneasily. John stared back at him and the doctor quickly turned back to Officer Stevenson. “Based on her injuries, it was a straight on hit. She definitely would have seen the car coming.” Officer Stevenson cast John a quick look as well.

“That fits with what the boy was saying and the minimal damage we found on his truck.”

“Have you identified her yet?” The doctor asked. Officer Stevenson shook his head.

“Our tech guys went back to the scene, but there was nothing there besides the boy’s truck. We need you to run dental records.”

“Of course.”

“Keep us updated.” Officer Stevenson turned to walk away but the doctor’s hand shot out to stop him.

“There’s one more thing, Officer.” The doctor took a deep breath. “Her feet. The bottoms of them are completely calloused. There are some blisters and superficial scrapes as well. The young man told us she had been running in the street when he hit her. After seeing her feet I'd say it’s entirely possible that this wasn’t her first night doing so.”

Without waiting for a response he pivoted and disappeared through the doors he had come through. John dropped his head. So the girl was still alive then. John’s shoulders sagged with relief. She was alive. He hadn’t killed her. She was alive.

“Mr. O’Callaghan?” John lifted his head once more to meet the eyes of Officer Stevenson. “At the moment we’re not going to be pressing charges. Based on your testimony and the doctor’s report it doesn’t seem as though this was your fault. Your truck is currently being held at the police station but you can pick it up whenever you want as long as you have your ID. We’ll call if we have any more questions.”

Another weight lifted. John nodded, his head in a bit of a daze as his sleep deprived brain tried to process this new information. Officer Stevenson gave his shoulder a squeeze before walking back to his uniformed coworkers. John’s eyes followed the group as they began making their way towards the exit, obviously excited to finally be leaving. When they were just a foot away the door suddenly flew open, the early morning sun shining through, outlining the shape of a woman.

“Where is she?!” John recoiled from the screech in her voice. The officers paused. A young nurse rushed forward.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” The woman angrily shrugged off the girl, stalking forward to stand in front of the men in uniforms.

“You. Tell me where she is.” The younger men glanced at each other nervously. Officer Stevenson stepped forward.

“Where who is, ma’am?” He asked softly.

“My daughter. Her name is Carly Anne Best. I know she’s here somewhere because she didn’t come home last night.” The anger in her voice had suddenly shifted to sadness. John could hear the desperation beginning to leak through her words.

“What makes you think that she’s here?”

“Because it’s where…I just know. Please, you have to tell me.”

“Alright, Ms. Best. Why don’t we go sit down and you can tell me about Carly so that I can help you find her.” The woman nodded meekly and allowed herself to be led to a grouping of chairs not far from where John was sitting, intently listening in.

“Now, when was the last time you saw her?”

“Last night. She went out about 11:00.”

“How old is your daughter?”

“She’s twenty. She still lives at home with me though. She’s supposed to start school this fall.”

“Can you describe her to me? What she looks like, what she was wearing?”

“She has brown eyes and long, straight blonde hair. She was wearing a white dress.” Her voice cracked and it was obvious she was trying hard not to cry. “It has buttons on the front and lace flowers.” She hiccupped and then stopped talking, as though saying anything more would cause the floodgates to open.

John felt his throat constrict when he glanced over and caught Officer Stevenson staring straight at him. The look on his face said it all. The girl being described matched the girl he had hit to a T. He didn’t look away when the officer turned towards the woman and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Do you have a picture of her?”

The woman nodded, still too emotional to speak. She dug in her purse for a moment before pulling out a wallet and then extracting a small picture from the inside of it and handing it to the man in front of her. Officer Stevenson took one look at the photograph and then cast John one split-second glance before handing it back to the woman. John saw his shoulders move as he inhaled deeply. His words were quiet but to John they seemed loud enough to echo off of the walls.

“Your daughter has been in an accident.”

There was such silence in the room John hardly dared to breathe. The woman’s sobs had come to a stop. She had an undecipherable look on her face. And then everything was shattered by her loud scream.

“God, no! Please no! Not my baby! Not again! Please, no!”

She fell forward onto Officer Stevenson, her figure shaking violently. Her screaming sobs pierced John through like a bullet. He stared down at his lap, unable to look anywhere else. His ears, however, were still attuned to the conversation between the woman and the officer. He couldn’t have missed her next words if he tried.

“Where is he?! Where’s the bastard that killed my baby girl!?”