Music was playing faintly in the background when I answered the call. I shook my head a bit, sitting at the old wooden vanity in my room, checking my hair as I turned this way and that. I’d styled it on a whim, with the curler in my bathroom that I hadn’t ever touched. It had… turned out alright, I supposed, so the experiment wasn’t all too bad. Except for my arms, which were dead to everything now.

From my phone, I could hear humming that I knew wasn’t a part of the song on the radio.

“HEY!”

A familiar shout came from my phone that I’d put on speaker, just in case. Somehow, I knew he’d get this excited over watching a movie. And whenever he got ecstatic, he got louder with his greetings. If it were anyone else, I might’ve found it either cute or annoying, but at this point, I was just used to it. It was just how he was.

“Yes, hello.”

“Are you ready?! Tomorrow is gonna be awesome!”

I chuckled a bit to myself, quiet enough that he wouldn’t hear it over his music.

“Ready for what?” I asked innocently, like I had no clue of the plans that had been made a few weeks ago. “What’s tomorrow?”

There was a loud gasp as I turned and strode over to my bathroom. Moisturizer, and then I was going to chill on my bed, working on solving the jigsaw puzzle I’d foolishly started this morning. I wasn’t going to sleep peacefully until I knew it was completed. That was the rest of the plan for tonight – moisturize and finish the puzzle. I’d already slipped into my comfiest pajamas, of which the shirt did not match the pants. Though I could be quite particular about some things when it came to clothes, these just felt right together, matching or not.

“Mara! I know you didn’t forget! You’re a superhuman so you never forget things!” There was a pause, and then the added tiny question. “Right?”

“Hmm… I don’t know…” I said, singing a little, as I headed to my bed, patting my cheeks with one hand. I hopped up and set the phone down on the covers. With my legs tucked under me, I pulled the wooden board out along with the box of pieces I’d set aside in my efforts to find all the outside ones. It had been a success, as the border was made. Now, it was time to rummage through the rest of the assortment of pieces and lose any hope of sleeping tonight.

There was loud booming laughter that made me smile instinctively as my fingertips brushed a piece covered in rocks. Perfect. Right to the bottom corner, the only place in the picture with it.

“MARA! Don’t do that!” he complained dramatically. “I almost believed you forgot!”

I laughed as I rummaged for another piece.

Never a dull moment.

“That’s your own fault,” I joked back at him. Then I got serious, grabbing a colorful flower-filled piece from the box, I held it out to the corner that had an overwhelming amount of the same kind of flowers. I paused in my search and glanced at the phone. “You’re on your way back tonight, right?”

“Yes, ma’am, just got back into the city a few seconds ago. In fifteen minutes, I will be at my place and sleeping like the dead.”

“Well, the dead better wake up tomorrow for the movie.”

“Hahaha! So you are ready!”

I sighed, actually feeling the need to close my eyes for that one.

“You’re an idiot.” Shaking my head, I found the spot for the piece, feeling a small sense of accomplishment. “Yes, I’m ready to go see the movie.”

“Aw, you’re not going just to see me?”

“You better show up, Jay. You know how much I hate going to the movies alone.”

He laughed lightly. “I know. I’ll be there. Early. Just to ease your mind. Though,” he said, and I could imagine him shaking his finger in the air as he continued, “If you’re late, you will never hear the end of it, got it?”

“Alright, alright.” I smiled. “We both might as well get there early to grab snacks and popcorn, right?”

“Exactly! And we need to see all the previews twice while we wait!”

I laughed.

And he did too.

But his was cut short abruptly, only to be followed by a series of horrible noises. A boom. Crunches and screeches.

And then silence.

Puzzle forgotten, I clutched my phone in both hands, cradling it, staring at the number that kept counting up.

“Jay? Are you alright?”

Part of me wanted to believe that his phone had just cut out, like it fell and broke or something along those lines, even though I knew the attachment he had in his car for it would have prevented such a thing from ever occurring. But I needed it. That little hope that maybe I was just hearing things.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

Dread filled the pit of my stomach when I heard a guttural groan instead of a reply. For the music to stop, the sounds I heard…

The near silence that came from my phone.

Near silence.

Not complete.

Things weren’t broken.

They were quiet.

And they shouldn’t have been.

“Jay? What’s going on?”

“Mara…ah…ugh…”

I was up in a flash, not taking note of the puzzle that ended up all over my floor. The board tumbled off of the bed with a thump as it landed. I was racing to my door, putting on my shoes and coat.

“Jay, I’m on my–”

I froze.

What was I going to do? Huh? Drive to an accident site to make it harder for everyone else?

I wasn’t even sure where in the city he was. My fist slammed against the wall, the painful throbbing that followed did nothing to clear my mind. I wanted this to be a dream. Why wasn’t it just a nightmare? Why wasn’t I waking up already?

Faintly, I heard sirens in the background from his phone, growing closer.

“Jay?” I called, my voice trembling. “Jay, are you there?” This time, there was no groan or attempted names. Nothing. My heart sank at the same time my vision blurred.

“Jay?!”

Closing my eyes and sliding down the wall to the floor, I listened as emergency crews arrived and worked to get him out… as best they could.

I sat there and heard everything, the shouts, the talking of injuries, the calling of more crews and tow-trucks. Listening and listening until I couldn’t bear it anymore and ended the call, only to press a different name in my contacts and sob.

That call was shorter, ending with a promise to notify me as soon as they figured out what was going on.

I waited there, on the floor, feeling as though the world was crumbling beneath me.

My phone buzzed and once the message was read, I grabbed my keys.

There was no concrete thought in my head. It raced, back and forth, from worst to best case scenarios.

Jay was in an accident.

Jay was fine, just a bit disoriented.

Jay was dying.

Jay just hit his head on the window and got a concussion.

Jay was already dead.

Jay was just unconscious.

Jay…

I locked the doors and started walking to the entrance of one of the five hospitals in this city, Memorial Hospital. My pace seemed to get quicker the closer I got to news of Jay. The lobby wasn’t full, just moderately occupied. I spotted a man, wearing two different colored sneakers. His jacket was unfashionably tucked into his pants in the back and he didn’t even seem to notice. He was pacing, back and forth, staring at the nurse’s station.

I recognized him even before he turned my way and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Lucas.”

He turned to look at me, startled. And then he raced over and put his hands on either of my shoulders.

“Mara. They– they haven’t– Jay– I– I don’t–”

I halted his trembling voice by hugging him. He desperately clung to me. I was reminded again of the lives these two brothers led. All they had left for family was each other. They were close, even more so because they relied on each other. They even shared an apartment together. Lucas, no matter what happened today, was going to blame himself, as the older brother. He’d likely have already gone through the same scenarios I had on my way here.

What if I’d gone to pick him up instead?

What if he’d just drove back tomorrow morning instead of tonight?

What if…

It was useless to try and stop the thoughts. It was like we needed to feel them, just for now, just this once… so that we could let them go later.

Both of our shoulders were quickly wet with tears.

I tried to say that everything would be alright. I tried to tell him it would be okay, that Jay would be fine. My mouth wouldn’t work. Tears flowed endlessly while my words ceased to exist.

After all, I’d heard…

My stomach churned at the remembrance of the series of noises, of his attempt at saying my name, his groan of pain… I hugged Lucas tighter, burying my face into his jacket.

I’d heard all of it.

We were both a mess when a nurse finally came over an hour later and asked Lucas if he was the emergency contact for Jason Bright.

“Yes, I’m his brother. How is he?”

“He’s stable.”

Despite being his brother, Lucas was also his legal guardian. He’d adopted Jay, in a sense, when their parents passed. Jay had been a minor while Lucas was just a year out of college. Their age difference hadn’t left them estranged, rather, it brought them even closer.

“Can we see him?” his voice cut through my thoughts, pleading.

The nurse glanced my way before speaking again, looking between the both of us.

“Our policy for those in the ICU is that only direct family can be present to see them.” Then he looked right at me. “If I may, what’s your relation to the patient?”

I felt my heart drop once more at those words, even if my face didn’t change much. I looked down at the floor.