Love Life & Circumstance (2 page)

As if summoned by Seth’s thoughts, claws clicked across the hardwood floor, and Rocky scrambled into the kitchen. “Didn’t take ya long to find me, boy,” Seth teased as he went down on one knee to soothe the trembling dog. “Looks like the walk will have to wait. Come on let’s try and call Beth.”

Together they traipsed back to the office where he dug through the scattered papers on his desk searching for his cell. “There you are,” he said, dragging the phone out from under a stack of personnel files. He punched the contact icon and scrolled through to Beth’s number. As it did last night, the call went straight to voice mail. “What are you up to Bethie?” He muttered into the air.

Bethany, his twin sister, hadn’t come home last night. Typical behaviour in the three months she’d lived with him. He never knew where she spent those nights. He asked, but she ignored his questions or outright refused to answer. Even when he refused to give her money, she disappeared for days, checking in maybe once a day by text to let him know she was safe.

He tried not to judge his twin; she was all he had left in the world after their parents died in a car crash when they were seniors in high school. They’d struggled through the last few months of classes, leaning on each other for support. They’d made it by the skin of their teeth.  He’d gone on to the University of Georgia intent on pursuing a law degree. He found peace in the structure of classes and deadlines. But, Bethany lost her focus. Without warning, she moved to south Alabama with a boy she’d met while on summer vacation in Panama City Beach. After the relationship fizzled, Bethany refused to come back to Georgia.

He cajoled, he begged, he threatened until she told him she couldn’t face the family home without their parents there. Wrapped up in his class work for that same reason, he stopped arguing with her and left her alone. He wished like hell, he’d kept fighting her. He constantly kicked himself for missing the first clues, when she called and said her share of the insurance money was gone, when she missed his graduation from university, when she refused to come up for a visit.

Hurting himself and taking the first steps into the law arena, he’d turned a blind eye on her spiral into depression, drugs and alcohol.  It wasn’t until he received a text from her best friend that he’d faced the fact Bethany was in trouble. He struggled with the decision to give up his job, the security he’d obtained for himself, but in the end, Bethany won out. He’d moved back to Alabama to be nearer to her using the money from his parent’s insurance money for a down payment. Unlike Beth who’d blown through her share, he’d put his in a CD.

Single and pregnant with a part time job as her only source of income, Beth had depended on him to help out with the extra costs of doctor’s visits, groceries and finally a home. Refusing to tell him anything about the baby’s father, she’d moved into the small two bedroom home on the outskirts of Headland and claimed his home office. Now, the room was strewn with feminine apparel and accessories some of which he cringed to think of in the same thought as his sister. As his savings slowly depleted, he watched his sister and worried. She rarely talked about the pregnancy and hadn’t bought anything for the impending birth. It was as if she thought ignoring the problem would make it disappear.

The shrill ring of the house phone yanked him out of his reverie.

“Hello.”

“Is this Seth Jacobs?” The impersonal tone sounded like every other secretary he’d ever dealt with.

“Yes, this Seth. Can I help you?”

“Mr Jacobs, this is Dr. Kate Butler.” Fear skated down Seth’s spine. He stumbled to the table and sank into a chair. “I’m afraid I have some, umm, disturbing news. Your sister, Bethany has been in a car accident. She gave us your name, before she lost consciousness. Can you come to the Medical Center?”

Mouth dry and heart pounding, Seth barely managed to answer. “I’ll be right there.” A sense of déjà vu surrounded him as he sprinted for the door, leaving the phone dangling off the hook. Not again. Please God not again. Trembling hard, he climbed behind the wheel of his truck and cranked it. His breath came in sharp quick pants and his body felt as if he was connected to an electric fence. He had to get control of himself if he was going to drive in to the hospital. He drug in several deep inhalations and exhaled slowly before putting the truck in gear and exiting the driveway.

The drive down HWY 431 seemed to take forever. At the junction of Ross Clark Circle, he nearly lost the small thread he held over his sanity. A twisted mangle of metal and glass was being loaded on a tow truck. The smiley face tag on the front bore the name “Carrie.” Bethany’s best friend. He swallowed bile and barely restrained the urge to floor it and sped through the police detour. Once past the wreckage, he stomped on the pedal. By some miracle, he screeched into the ER parking lot without getting a ticket.

At the desk, he waited impatiently for the nurse to finish with the worried mother in front of him. When the woman finally moved to take a seat in the waiting room, Seth moved to the counter.

“I’m Seth Jacobs. Doctor ummm...” he scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Damn it, I can’t remember her name. She said my sister is here.”

“What’s your sister’s name?”

“Bethany. Bethany Jacobs.” He watched her face change, nothing too obvious but enough his gut clenched even tighter.

“Sir, if you’ll have a seat, Dr. Butler will be with you as soon as she can.” He saw red as panic filled his soul.

“I don’t want to have a seat. I want to see my sister. The doctor told me to come.”

“Please calm down, sir. Dr. Butler is with your sister now. Causing a scene will only make things worse.”

Seth opened his mouth and quickly closed it when a hand dropped on his shoulder. He looked back to see the security guard standing there a sympathetic but firm look on his face. Seth’s shoulders slumped.

“I’m sorry, I’ll, uh, I’ll be over there.” Taking a chair in the corner, he dropped his head in his hands as the tears came. He’d lost his parents in a horrific crash; he couldn’t lose his twin the same way. Surely, life couldn’t be that cruel. A soft moan of agony broke through and he closed his eyes against the pain. “Please God. Please don’t take her.”

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CHAPTER THREE

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“Sir, Dad? Is that you? I’ve been waiting for ages, what’s going on?” Elijah waited and listened intently to the wailing sirens coming down the line. “Dad! Dad what the hell? Answer me damn it!” Elijah’s grip tightened on the phone as he waited for the sound of his father’s voice to say he was alright. Bile stung his throat, and Elijah swallowed back the need to vomit. Something was wrong, something bad.

“Hello, who am I speaking to?” The sound of a stranger’s voice on the other end of his father’s phone snapped Elijah’s attention back into place. “This is Elijah Deacon, who is this? And why in the hell do you have my dad’s phone?” Elijah seethed thinking some smart assed redneck had pushed his luck and seen his father as an easy target to rob. “If you’ve hurt my father God damn it I’ll find you, and when I do, so help me God I’ll make fucking gator food out of your behind.”

Silence ensued before a deep voice answered on the other end of the phone. “Mr. Deacon…Elijah, this is Ched Brewer. I’m a paramedic with Care Ambulance. I don’t have time to discuss things right now. We’re on our way to the Southeast Alabama Medical Center, if you could meet us there and give your name at the desk someone will…code blue, code blue we’re losing him…”

The line went dead, and the phone fell from Elijah’s hand. This couldn’t be happening; not today. As Elijah started the truck and rolled it out of the cemetery, all he could think of was how ironic it was that it was twenty-five years to the day, on the anniversary of his mama’s death.

“No, no fucking way.” Elijah slammed his foot onto the gas, his knuckles white from his grip on the steering wheel. Nothing else mattered only getting to that emergency room and making sure his dad was alright.

By the time Elijah made his way to the hospital, the rain poured from the skies. He was soaked through to the skin. Not that it mattered, he was already numb. At six feet seven, Elijah was used to people moving out of his way when he walked into a room. But today, as he all but ran to the desk where a slight female recoiled in fright, Elijah didn’t care. Usually, he hated that people looked at him wide eyed with fear, but today he used his towering presence as intimidation to get what he wanted.

“Chamberlain Deacon, I’m his son.” That was all Elijah said as he watched the young nurse scroll through the admittance list highlighted on her PC.

“Mr. Deacon was taken straight through to emergency surgery upon his arrival, sir. Please take a seat, and I’ll phone through to see if Dr. Butler can come and speak to you.” Elijah knew it would do no good to argue. The doctor needed to tend to his father before he’d be seen so he moved from the desk and calmly took a seat. The waiting area was a hive of activity, an unusual occurrence considering the time of day. Elijah frowned as he picked up on a variety of different conversations, circulating around the white walled waiting room. “Police chase, drunk driver, pregnant passenger, head on collision,” seemed to be all he heard. And, as much as he felt sorry for those involved, Elijah was more concerned about his own father’s state of health than the ones being discussed.

The sight of a woman wearing fresh green scrubs brought Elijah and a man who’d been sitting opposite him to their feet.

“Dr Butler.” Elijah and the male spoke in unison.

“If you could both follow me gentlemen, I think what I have to say needs a little more privacy than here.” Elijah’s heart sank at the grim look on the doctor’s face, but the need for news far outweighed any notion of being last in the cue so Elijah followed, walking right alongside the other man from the waiting room. Neither of them spoke as Dr Butler ushered them into separate rooms.

On entering what looked to be Dr. Butler’s office, Elijah turned to see the other man in the opposite room; his face ashen and pale as he stared blankly right back at Elijah before the doors closed on each of them. “Mr. Deacon, please take a seat.”

Elijah took a deep breath and shook his head. “No…no seats, no beating around the bush Doc, just tell me like it is.”

Dr. Butler walked toward him to place a delicate but strong hand on Elijah’s arm. “Mr. Deacon, your father was brought in not long ago suffering severe internal injuries brought about by a collision with another vehicle. Now, while the details of the crash are unknown to me at this time, your father’s injuries were so severe that all we can do is make him as comfortable as possible. I’m so sorry. I’ve known Pastor Deacon a long time, and as much as it pains me to say this to you, especially today, your daddy pre-signed a DNR. I have to respect those wishes. Eli, I am so sorry, but you need to prepare yourself for the worst. If you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you to see your dad.”

Elijah felt the blood draining from his face as he walked down the long white corridor. The scent of antiseptic stung his nose, and the palms of his hands started to sweat. At the nod of Dr. Butler’s head, the room he entered instantly cleared. Machines bleeped, and the respirators helping his dad breathe silently pumped air into lungs that no longer functioned on their own. The heavy copper scent of blood hung thick in the air and coated Elijah’s dry throat. Wires led from his father’s chest to a monitor beside the bed that spiked at sporadic and intermittent intervals.

Chamberlain Deacon lay unrecognisable beneath a sea of bruised flesh. Even though the nurses had cleaned and dressed the worst of his injuries, blood still oozed from the wounds on his face. Tears tracked down Elijah’s cheeks as he dropped to his knees beside his dad’s bed and brought a cold limp hand up to his face.

“Don’t you dare do this to me today? We made plans; you were supposed to meet me ya damned old coot.” More tears ran down his cheeks, and Elijah angrily swept them away before burying his face against his dad’s chest. “Please, God, if you’re listening, please give him back. You already took my mama.” Elijah sobbed and gently lifted the chain from his neck. The heavy gold cross had belonged to his mama and her mama before that. It had been handed down through the generations between daughters and now sons, to Elijah on the night his mama passed.

“This is yours now my son, yours to pass on to your young when the good Lord says it’s time.” His daddy’s words, ones he’d always remember, just like the last words over the phone earlier today. “
Love ya, son
.”

Just the thought of never hearing those words again broke Elijah apart. Between each heart breaking sob, he recited the Lord’s Prayer while holding the cross between both of their hands. By the time he reached the end of the first verse, the monitor hooked to his father’s heart silently flat lined to leave Elijah lost and alone.

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CHAPTER FOUR

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Alone in the empty room, Seth watched the doctor take the tall man into the small office. Their eyes met just before the doors closed. In the other man’s gaze, Seth saw the same fear that clutched at his insides. He’d listened to the nurse’s chatter, the paramedics, and the police. His gut twisted. From what he could put together, Bethany had been the passenger in Carrie’s vehicle; both of them already drunk in the early afternoon hours. The police had tried to pull them over, but Carrie fled. Why? What the hell had they been thinking trying to outrun the police? Seth shoved a hand through his already tousled hair. Bethany would tell him as soon as he saw her. He refused to think the worse.

He paced as he waited and his thoughts returned to what he’d heard. The chase started on the north side of town and continued around the Circle. It ended with Carrie’s Kia Sorento crumpled against the driver’s side of a Ford F250. No one knew why the girls hadn’t stopped. The police were still investigating.