The car had come down nose first, then flipped over to rest on the roof after rolling a few yards. It was a miracle another car hadn’t run right into it. Not that it mattered. The damage from the fall was extensive. Metal and plastic were crushed and wrenched into terrible shapes. Smoke came from the engine, but Peggy couldn’t see any sign of fire yet. That was amazing, too. It seemed like the impact should’ve caused the car to explode. The cement was creased beneath it.
She lay down on the cold, wet pavement and looked in through the smashed driver’s-side window. The opening was barely a few inches high. She prayed another miracle had occurred and he was still alive. “Park? Can you hear me?”
“Yes.” He reached out a hand to touch the one she dared to slide through the shattered glass. “Peggy? Is that you?”
“Yes.” Her voice was thick with tears she tried to hold back. She squeezed his hand, felt the warm blood oozing over the cold flesh. “Hold on. I hear help coming.”
“That was quite a splash, huh?” He tried to laugh, but ended up making a gurgling noise in the back of his throat. “I don’t know what happened. I think I fell asleep. One minute I was up there. Then the car was falling. It smashed down here. It was . . . awful.”
“But you’re still alive, Park. You’re going to be all right.”
“It never happened to me before,” he continued, rambling, “but you were right when I saw you at the hotel. I’ve been sick. I guess that’s why I fell asleep. Either that or too many carbs. You know what a sweet-eater I am. Beth always said it would be the death of me.”
“It’s all right.” Peggy wished she could see his face, but the angle of the car and the damage done to it made it impossible. She wished they hadn’t argued the last time she saw him. She prayed she had more time to make amends. “They’ll come and get you out. You’ll be fine. Just hold on a few more minutes.”
“Tell Beth I love her.”
“You’ll be able to tell her yourself,” she argued. “You’re too mean and tough to die this way. Just don’t let go. You’ll be fine.”
“I think my luck has run out this time.” She heard him fight to draw a ragged breath. “I don’t know how this happened. Beth made me get a checkup last month. The doctor said I was fine.”
“I don’t know, Park,” she admitted. “I don’t know how it happened either. We can find out later. The important thing is you’re still here. You can make it through this. I’ll stay with you until someone gets here who can help. Just squeeze my hand.”
She felt him try to move. He was pulling at something, maybe the seat belt, trying to push himself out of the crushed driver’s seat. Pieces of glass from the windshield rained down on the pavement as the car shook with his efforts. She clutched his hand, urging him not to move again. She didn’t want to think about the damage already done to his body. Where were the paramedics?
“Can you get me out? I have to get out of here!” Park tried to push against the door that separated them. “For God’s sake, Peggy, get me out of here! The car is going to catch fire!” His voice ended on a weak, terrible cry. “Peggy, help me, please!”
She sobbed. There was nothing she could do. Sam was beside her in the street. He put his hand on her shoulder. They could hear the paramedics getting closer; smell the strong exhaust fumes from the cars and trucks that passed them.
Peggy held Park’s hand even when it went limp and he didn’t respond to her calls. She didn’t move away from the car. She wouldn’t leave him. Tears froze on her face. Her knees ached from the cold, hard ground. She kept telling him to hold on, help was coming. He couldn’t die this way.
The firemen, police, and paramedics finally arrived in a loud, busy stream. Sam helped Peggy to her feet as the rescue workers pushed toward them. She could barely hold herself up, numb from the cold. They moved out of the way and stood in the street while the police diverted traffic to the other lanes of the interstate.
The police officers asked about anyone being hit on the ground by the car. Sam told them he didn’t see anyone. Peggy heard all of it as a dim fog formed around her brain. She watched as they tried to decide how to free Park from the wreck. Firemen took out the Jaws of Life and pried open the metal body of the Lincoln like a can of peas. Paramedics rushed in as soon as he was visible.
When she looked down, her hand was covered in his blood. Or her blood. She wasn’t sure which. Did she cut herself putting her hand through the window? She knew it was too late when they pulled his mangled body from the car. A doctor, stopped in traffic by the accident, pronounced him dead a little after eleven a.m.
“Anything you can tell us about how this happened?” Highway Patrol officers joined the group working at the scene and started asking questions. “Where were you when the car came down?”
“We were in the southbound lane. We saw it happen like everyone else,” Sam answered. “We’re parked on the shoulder over there. We came over here to see if we could help.”
“He was my friend.” Peggy’s voice wavered as she spoke. She was freezing inside and out. Shock was beginning to set in. Nothing the officer said made any sense to her. “I have to call his wife.”
“We’ll take care of that, Dr. Lee. You just take it easy, ma’am,” the officer told her after getting her name and address from Sam when she didn’t answer him. “Could you tell from what you saw if Mr. Lamonte skidded off the ramp? Was there ice up there?”
“We were too far away,” she finally said, more to herself than him. “It didn’t look like he tried to stop at all. The car flew past the barriers. He told me he fell asleep. It wasn’t like him. But that’s what he said.”
She couldn’t bear to have someone tell her this was his fault. It might come out that way later, but she’d feel more herself by then. At that moment, she felt consumed by the event. She turned away from the officer and tried to focus on something else. Park’s car was squarely in front of her. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed.
“I appreciate your help, ma’am. We’ll finish up here if you’d like to leave.” The young patrolman smiled solicitously. He nodded to Sam and walked back toward other witnesses who were standing outside their cars with their arms wrapped around themselves as the icy wind rushed by.
Peggy stared at the wrecked car, not able to believe her friend was dead. Some crazy notion took hold of her half-functioning brain as she recalled they were supposed to have dinner Friday night. She’d have to call Park’s wife, Beth, and cancel. Or would Beth call her?
Sam put his warm arm around her shoulder and urged her toward the truck, worry and emotion softening his voice. “Come on. Let’s go. There’s nothing else we can do here. Let’s go back to the Potting Shed and get some tea.”
Peggy didn’t see the ambulance driver zip the black bag closed over Park’s face. But she heard the sound. It shredded across her skin like a knife. She took a deep breath and held tightly to Sam’s hand. “You’re right. Thanks for staying with me. I’m ready now.”
Shakespeare was barking and jumping in the cab of the truck. Sam had to push him down on the seat before he could get inside. He held the dog back so Peggy could open her door. The roar of traffic never ebbed. Horns blared and drivers shouted obscenities as they swerved away from them.
Even after they were safe in the warmth and quiet of the vehicle, Peggy could only stare out the window. She had no words to express the emotions smothering her. She wanted to make polite conversation with Sam. She could feel his anxious glances in her direction.
She got a Sani-Wipe out of her pocketbook and cleaned her hand as best she could. The glass hadn’t cut her. But she couldn’t force herself past the terrible blackness that wouldn’t wipe away as easily as the blood.
They were back at the Potting Shed before she realized where they were. The trip was a blur of sound and color that had no meaning. She kept seeing Park’s tired gray face at the hotel in Philadelphia as they argued about the estuary.
“Do you want me to take you home?” Sam’s blue eyes were studying her face. He took her cold hands in his and chafed some warmth into them. “You don’t have to be here right now. Selena and I can take care of everything. Keeley should be here soon, too.”
She patted his hand and forced herself to smile and speak. “I’ll be fine. I didn’t mean to scare you. It was such a shock. But life goes on, doesn’t it? I have to call Rue and let her know I’m not coming. Maybe she’ll have another appointment open in the next few days.”
“Okay.” He scratched his head and opened the truck door. “Maybe it’ll be better for you to be here instead of by yourself anyway. Would you like me to call Steve or Paul?”
