Page 43 of 3rd Tango

“I need you to focus, Meg.”

I’m no good to Charlie or Mom this way. I count to three and draw air through my nose, then slowly blow it out my lips.

“Again,” he urges.

After the third repetition, my chest no longer feels as if it’s about to fracture.

“I’m good,” I assure him. “How are they? Please, JJ, tell me they’re still alive.”

The idea of losing them? I…can’t. What would Dad and I do? I shake the thought away. Seatbelts. They always wear them. I hang on to that thought.

“God, Meg, of course they are. I wouldn’t…”

He raises one hand and presses his fingers against his forehead hard enough to turn his skin red and it hits me. Big, strong JJ, our go-to guy, was as scared as I was.

I reach for him, squeezing his arm. “We’re okay.”

He drops his hand, pushes his shoulders back and gives me a curt nod. “We’re okay,” he repeats. “Your mom is in the ambulance. Head laceration. She must’ve whacked it on the passenger window.”

He’s not saying anything about Charlie. They’re alive though. He saidthat.

“Where’s Charlie?”

“On her way to the hospital.” Before I have a chance to speak, he holds his hands up again. “She’s conscious and spitting mad.”

Thank you. “Of course she is. She loves that car.” I peer at the wreckage, the crumpled front end and the blown airbags. “What the hell happened? Did someone cut them off?”

He waves me to follow him and we march by the two cops. At the rear of the ambulance, I pause and peek around the open door.

Mom is perched on a gurney while an EMT checks out a cut on her head.

“Mom?”

She snaps her gaze to me and I can’t help it. I jump in and wrap my arms around her. I’m so damned happy to see her.

“I’m all right,” she says. “How’s Charlie?”

She’s the one injured, yet I’m being comforted. I suppose, no matter how old we get, a mother’s instinct is to protect.

“JJ said they took her to the hospital, but she’s awake and steaming.”

She touches my hair, runs her hand down it. “That’s good. If she’s mad, she’s coherent.”

“Meg,” JJ calls, “I need to steal you for a sec.”

I look at the EMT. What I want from him, I’m not sure, but he seems to understand.

He jerks his chin toward the doors. “Go. I’ll finish here and you can ride with her. She’ll probably need a few stitches.”

I squeeze her hand. “I’ll be right outside. You’re not alone. I promise.”

“I know, my girl. Thank you. We need to find Charlie.”

I hop off the step. “As soon as we get to the hospital, we will.”

“Contact your father.”

“I already did. He’s on his way back from fishing. I’ll call again. Tell him to meet us at the hospital.”