From the Wreckage Read online

  The McCann’s spend the night in the hospital for observation – just as a precaution the doctors tell them, but Walt knows the real reason. They’ve got no home to return to.

  The next morning, after Meredith is wheeled out of the room for a few tests, Walt and Grace watch some cartoons and wait for her to return. He’s concerned that they still need to run tests on his wife. Maybe her smoke inhalation was far worse than his and Gracie’s. Or maybe it was the cut to her side that has the doctors worried.

  A half an hour later, Meredith returns with tears streaming down her pink cheeks. “What’s wrong, Mer? What’s the matter?” Walt stands from his bed and practically runs over to his crying wife.

  “The baby…” is all she can work out past the lump in her throat. Walt’s initial worries instantly morph into elation and then raw fear.

  “What did you say?” he whispers, shocked by this news. Unable to speak past her sobbing, Meredith cries into the blankets. Walt looks up to the doctor who came in with Meredith, hoping that she can offer some small sliver of information – something to make his mind stop racing.

  Extending her slender hand to him, Dr. Meyers introduces herself. “We performed a routine ultrasound this morning to check on the baby, to make sure everything is okay.”

  “What baby, Mer?” He skims his knuckles across his wife’s cheek, brushing away the flow of tears. “Please talk to me,” he begs and she wraps her fingers around his hand. Bringing his hand to her lips, she plants a soft kiss there.

  “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted it to be a surprise, but I’m…Walt, I’m pregnant.” Giving herself over to her emotions, she wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him as tightly as she can.

  “So then the tests came back okay?” His words are muffled by her soft, brown hair. He sees the doctor nod as she steps away from the stretcher to give them a minute of privacy.

  “Yes, everything is okay, for now. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.” Her chestnut-colored eyes beg for forgiveness, but there’s nothing to forgive. They’re going to have another baby.

  “Shhh, sweetie. There’s no need to apologize.” He kisses her temple.

  Before she leaves, the doctor goes over a few last minute instructions – no heavy lifting, drink plenty of water and see her regular doctor in a week or so for a follow-up ultrasound, at which they should be able to hear the heartbeat.

  Grace is too entranced by the television to even notice that her mom has returned, so Walt and Meredith decide not to mention anything about the baby to her, just in case.

  The rest of the morning is spent making arrangements to move in with Walt’s brother until they can find an apartment of their own. Meredith calls Penny Andrews, her neighbor and newest friend, who promises they’ll be up there shortly with some new clothes. Hating to rely on others for support, Walt almost tells them not to worry about it, but they’ve got to rebuild everything. Somehow, refusing a few new items of clothes when they don’t even have a roof of their own seems somewhat foolish.

  An hour later, the Andrews come to visit and in addition to the clothes they’d promised to bring, David beams with pride as he hands Grace her ragged and charred Puppy.

  Grace leaps out of the hospital bed. “You found Puppy!” She squeals with delight as she tears the precious stuffed animal from David’s hands.

  “Sure did. It was right next to where I found you.” He’s grinning ear to ear, utterly pleased with himself for being such a huge help last night.

  “You found me?” Grace asks, disbelief lacing through her words. When David simply nods and smiles, she says, “Wow. You’re like a hero!”

  Wrapping her tiny arms around his waist, Grace squeezes David. The two sets of parents watch in silence as the happy exchange occurs before them.

  Letting go of David, Grace tips her chin over at the TV that she was just watching. “Wanna watch Frosty the Snowman? The nurses just put it on for me.” Grace doesn’t even wait for David to respond before she pulls him over to the bed. She’s determined never to let her hero move from her side.

  “We really can’t thank you guys enough, especially David. He really is a hero.” Walt shakes hands with John Andrews as Penny and Meredith squeeze the life out of each other – well, as best they can with Meredith’s still-sore wound.

  “We’re glad to help out,” Penny says as she hands over the bags of clothing and toiletries they’d picked up on their way over. “So what will you guys do?” Penny asks cautiously, not wanting to upset Walt and Meredith.

  Pulling his wife to his side, Walt kisses the top of her head. “We’ll be all right. We’re going to go stay with my brother for a bit while we figure things out.”

  “Will you come back to the neighborhood?” Penny and Meredith have hit it off pretty well and she would hate to see them leave for good.

  Shrugging and fighting back tears brought on by uncertainty, Meredith looks over at David and Grace watching TV. “I’d like to, but we’ll just have to wait and see.” She swipes a tear away from her cheek and looks up at Walt – her rock, her savior.

  “Come on, Pen, let’s leave them be for a while.” John extends his hand to Walt, who thanks him for helping them out. “It’s time to go, Dave.” Penny calls for her son and smiles warmly at the sight of little Gracie staring in awe at him.

  “See you around, Gracie.” David ruffles her hair as she holds Puppy tightly at her side.

  If she would have known that was going to be the last time she’d see David Andrews, she would have done more than wave lamely at his retreating back as he exited the room.

  “Can you believe we finally did it?” Jade raises her glass of Merlot and clinks it against my beer.

  “Here’s to six long years!” Dragging out the word long, I laugh before taking a sip of my beer. In one huge gulp, she finishes her drink, all while my lips are still on the rim of my glass. She does not appreciate the look I shoot her across the table.

  “What? We just finished grad school. I can live a little.” Jade arches an eyebrow as she wiggles her finger in my face. “I’m getting another one. You want?”

  Holding up my still very full mug, I eye her over the rim. “Nah, I think I’m good.”

  In true Jade fashion, she sticks out her tongue at me as she struts away from the table. I love this girl, but man she can be a trip sometimes. Having lived with her for four years as college roommates, and the last two while we worked through grad school, I know pretty much everything there is to know about her. Like right now, she’s leaning up against the guy at the bar, slowly dragging her finger down his arm. Stopping at his bicep, she squeezes it and her face twists into one of appreciation. Totally stroking his ego, her main intention is to get a free drink. And oh, would you look at that, a free drink is exactly what she gets. Even though I know she can’t see me, I roll my eyes at her antics.

  When the guy turns toward the bartender to pay, Jade peers over at me, a smug ‘I told you so’ look plastered on her face. After handing her the glass of wine, Mr. I Just Got Roped Into Buying a Drink makes a motion to escort Jade onto the dance floor, which, of course, she declines. Pointing over to me in my lonely existence at our booth, I’m sure I make for the perfect excuse.

  When she slides back into her seat, I can’t suppress the laughter.

  “You’re too much, you know that?”

  “Why? Because I can con a guy into buying me an $8.00 glass of wine. I’d say that’s a skill.”

  “Sure,” I quip sarcastically. “Put that right on your résumé. It’ll help you land a job in no time.”

  Opting for a small sip instead of a large gulp like before, Jade eyes me from across the table. Paying no attention to my previous words, she huffs a sigh at me. “Actually, I’d call it a gift. And if you got out there more often, shake what your momma gave you, then you’d get a freebie every now and then, too, you know.”

  That comment alone almost makes me choke on my beer. “Shake what my momma gave me? Are you serious?”
As my lips pull into a thin line of cynicism, I shoot her a wry look. “First of all—”

  “Oh, yay. It’s a list. I love when you get all listy on me.” Her sarcasm cuts me off mid-sentence. Bouncing playfully in her seat, she claps her hands, mocking me with a delicate balance of love and playfulness.

  Holding up one finger for extra emphasis of her love for my lists, I continue with my original statement. “Yes, first of all, you can get guys to buy you drinks all you want. Look at you, you’re . . . you’re . . .” I pause, looking for the right word before landing on, “stunning. You’re absolutely stunning, Jade. Guys drool over you and your mile-long legs.”

  “Sweetie, that’s nice of you to say, but they drool over you, too. You just never pay attention.”

  “And that, my friend, brings me to my second point.” After taking another sip of my beer, I hold up two fingers this time. Wiggling them back and forth in her face causes us both to laugh at the silliness. “And second of all, I don’t need a hot guy to buy me a drink. I already have a boyfriend.” The last words carry a playfully smug ‘this ought to be fun’ tone, one which causes Jade to laugh.

  Though she might think the boys drool over me, I’m not so sure she’s right. Besides, I wasn’t kidding when I said she was stunning. Standing at around five foot nine inches tall, Jade is fit enough to be a model. With dark ebony skin, she looks like Naomi Campbell. Her mocha eyes are set in a perfect face—perfect cheekbones, perfect nose, perfect lips—hell, even her forehead is flawless.

  I mean, do people even rate the perfectionism of foreheads? Because if they do, Jade’s would top their list.

  Essentially, she’s everything I’m not. I’m the short to her tall, the curves to her sleek lines. Where everything about her is rich and exotic, I’m pale and bland. Nothing says Irish like dark red hair and blue eyes. Oh, and the freckles, you can’t forget the freckles.

  “Speaking of boyfriends,”—Jade waves over the top of my head—“here comes Blake now.” Even though she tries to hide it, the disdain she feels toward him drips from every word. I love her for at least trying to disguise it.

  “Hey, babe.” Blake slinks into the booth next to me, pulling me close to his side. When the guy from the bar comes over to our table a few seconds later, a friend in tow, Blake’s arm tenses around my shoulders. What started out as a casual show of our relationship, turns into a grip with the sole purpose of staking his claim on me. Jade rolls her eyes, not in any way whatsoever attempting to cover up her disapproval of Blake’s behavior.

  Extending his hand to Jade, bar guy introduces himself as Johnny. “And this is Chris. So, how about that dance?”

  Before either of us can say anything, Blake answers for us. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’m good. Oh and so are the ladies.” Blake’s face twists into a mean look, all hard angles and thin lips as he shoos the guys away.

  Jade stands from her seat, not at all attempting to veil her anger this time. “I’ll catch up with you later, Gracie.” As she walks away, I uncurl myself out from under Blake’s arm.

  “Why’d you do that?” My question bounces off the back of his head as he turns to flag down a waitress. Blake and I have only been together a few weeks. I wouldn’t consider it much of anything serious, but I think he sees it as more than it is. He can be over-protective and overtly macho at times—all the more reason for Jade not to like him.

  He didn’t start out like this. In fact, we were friends for a few months before we started dating. Paired up in an economics class, we spent a lot of time together in study sessions. He did little to hide his interest in me. Having never really been the center of someone’s attention, I’ll be the first to admit, I ate it up. Sure, I caught minute signs of his jealousy every now and then, but there was a small part of me that loved it.

  Someone wanted me. That was good enough for me.

  At first.

  Now, it crawls under my skin and festers there, like an oozing blister I can’t help but pick at. Being the best friend she is, Jade tries to support me, especially since I haven’t voiced any of my recent concerns to her.

  I’ve tried my best to ignore it, to pretend like it’s not a big deal, but when he turns around to face me, the flash of meanness I see in his face puts me on edge. “I’ve told you before, I don’t like you talking to other guys.” His voice carries this ‘take no bullshit’ quality to it that I really don’t appreciate. In the few weeks we’ve been seeing each other, I’ve tried my best to see his decent qualities, the ones which attracted me to him in the first place.

  But, the more I get to know him, the more I realize those qualities might have just been a show to lure me in.

  “What’s her problem anyway? She’s such a bitch. Never understood why you were friends with her in the first place.” My mouth hangs open at his snide words. “Can’t say I’m not thrilled you won’t be living with her any more. Can’t stand that bit–”

  Shoving away from him, I cut him off mid-sentence. “Oh no, you don’t.” My voice is filled with sass and more than a touch of anger. “She”—I point to Jade and Johnny out on the dance floor—“is my best friend. And you”—I poke a finger at his chest, hard—“are nothing but a . . . a . . . jerk.” He laughs at my stammering.

  Since the bench is open on both sides, I slide away from him and stand by the edge of the table. “This isn’t working, Blake.” Waving my hands between us, he knows exactly what I mean by “this.”

  With menacing slowness, he moves toward me, scooting along the green leather seat. Standing in my physical space, reminds me of how much larger he is than me.

  What was I thinking? What did I ever see in him? I ask myself as he looks down at me, a syrupy sweet look plastered to his hard face.

  “Maybe we should talk outside, Grace.” My name falls from his lips like a curse as his fingers curl around my wrist in a vise grip. His eyes glaze over as his dilated pupils eat up all of the color that would be there. Any sense of the man I thought he was is replaced by the image of this stranger before me.

  In a split second, he changes tactics. Being overly sweet, a lazy smile spreads across his face and his hard eyes soften, as does his grip on me. “Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to get mad,” he coos, sweeping a piece of hair out of my eyes. “I just want you all to myself.” Pulling me to his side, he presses an affectionate kiss to the top of my head.

  Not wanting to ruin the night, I let him hold me for a few seconds. Stepping back, I look up at him. “It’s okay. Just try to calm it down a bit, please,” I beg, adding a hint of seduction to my words in the hopes of keeping him quiet the rest of the night.

  “Sure thing, babe.” He nods in agreement. “I’m going to go grab a drink. Want anything?”

  “Another beer, please.” I move back to the bench as he struts away.

  That boy is so complicated; his mood swings give me whiplash. His temperamental attitudes, however, are wearing thin. So even though I can play nicely for the rest of the night, I brace myself knowing a very real conversation with him about his behavior and its impact on our would-be future is on the very near horizon. Lost to my own internal musings about ending things with Blake, I don’t even see Jade as she returns to the table. Pulling my almost emptied mug from my hand, she chugs down the last sips of my beer before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

  “That man can dance something fierce.” Chuckling, she points to Johnny, who’s standing at the bar next to Blake.

  “Did his panties unbunch?” Her words are heavily laced with cynicism.

  Leaning forward, I try my best to keep my voice as low as possible. “For now, but I’m not so sure about us.” At the mention of the last part, Jade also leans forward. Placing her hands over mine, her face twists in concern.

  “What did he do?” Seriousness fills the small space between us.

  Shaking my head, I try to put into words the very distinct feeling I just had about him. “I think it’s more than just being a little jealous. I don’t kno
w. There was something in his eyes. Actually, it was what wasn’t in his eyes. He was cold and hard. I just don’t see myself with him for much longer.”

  Deep down, I know those words make Jade happier than she’ll ever admit to. She doesn’t have any time to react or to engage in the conversation we so obviously need. Wordlessly, she tips her head over my shoulder as Blake and Johnny approach from behind.

  “Blake,” she greets him icily.

  “Jade.” He does the same.

  Johnny makes himself cozy next to Jade, handing her a glass of wine. Of course, I give her the stink eye as I hold up three fingers. “Oh, shush, you.” She swats at me with her hand and Johnny laughs along with her. “Loosen up, Grace. We’re college graduates. Drink up, would you?”

  Three glasses go up in the air and Blake’s arm slides around my shoulder. “To Jade and Grace and their bright futures.”

  His toast leaves me speechless, and since I don’t have any words in my mouth, I fill it with beer. In her life-long quest to have me loosen up, Jade starts chanting “chug it, chug it” as I start to pull my mug away from my mouth. Of course Johnny and Blake join in.

  Surprising even myself, I figure what the hell. Three gulps later, my mug is empty and my head a touch fuzzy. Never having been a huge drinker, downing two beers in less than thirty minutes has me feeling good and buzzed.

  After slamming the mug down on the table, I call out, “Let’s dance.”

  Rushing to the dance floor, Jade, Johnny, Blake and I join Johnny’s friend, Chris, and the girl he’s paired up with. The music is pumping so loud, I barely hear her introduce herself. I think she says her name is AnnMarie, but I could definitely be wrong.

  With the lights flashing and the music blasting, it’s easy to lose myself. Blake’s hands roam all over as his body presses into mine from behind. Though I would normally pull back from his outward display of public affection, tonight I lean into it willingly. Spinning around in the circle of his arms, I loop mine around his neck and consider stretching up on my tiptoes. I know if our lips meet in what should be a hot kiss, the only fluttering I’ll feel would be from the alcohol.