Chapter 3 ACCIDENT

POV OLIVIA

The market was quiet on that cold Tuesday morning.

Soft music played through the aisles while a few people slowly pushed carts between shelves decorated for winter. The warm yellow lights made everything feel far too cozy for such a freezing day.

Outside, snow continued falling gently over Maplewood, covering the parked cars and turning the small town into an almost motionless scene.

Calm.

Quiet.

Peaceful.

Jake slept strapped against my chest in the baby carrier, completely snuggled inside his dark blue wool onesie. His little face was partially hidden against my coat, and his tiny warm breaths brushed against my skin through the thin fabric of my shirt.

I smiled automatically.

Even on difficult days… he managed to bring me peace.

I slowly walked through the pasta aisle, pushing the cart while absentmindedly looking at the products on the shelves.

Fruit.

Milk.

Coffee.

Diapers.

Diaper rash cream.

My life had been reduced to small, quiet routines.

And strangely… I liked it.

I liked the calm.

The predictability.

The absence of chaos.

Because before Jake was born, my entire life had felt like an emotional roller coaster I could never get off of.

One day, Brian would appear, saying he missed me.

Next, he would disappear without explanation.

One day, I felt loved.

The next is completely disposable.

But not anymore.

Now there was stability.

Even if sometimes loneliness still hurts in places that were far too silent inside me.

I grabbed a pack of pasta from the shelf and distractedly placed it in the cart when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

I frowned immediately.

Strange.

Very strange.

My parents have called me every day ever since I moved to Maplewood.

But always at night.

And always through video calls, because my mother insisted on seeing her grandson even if only for a few minutes.

Never regular calls.

Never at that hour.

A bad feeling crossed my chest so quickly that my stomach twisted.

With my heart tightening for no reason at all, I slowly pulled out my phone.

“Mom.”

I swallowed hard.

I answered immediately.

“Hi, Mom…”

There was silence on the other side of the line.

Two seconds.

Only two seconds.

But it was enough for panic to start growing inside me.

Because mothers know how to hide worry.

And mine never stayed silent like that.

“Sweetheart…” Her voice sounded strange. Shaky.

My heart dropped.

“What happened?”

More silence.

My breathing got trapped in my chest.

“Mom?”

I heard her slowly pull in a breath on the other side of the call.

As if she were trying to find the strength to speak.

And that made the fear grow even more.

“Olivia… stay calm, okay? First of all, I need you to stay calm.”

My entire body went cold.

At that moment… I knew.

Something was very wrong.

Very.

My hands started trembling around the phone.

“What happened?” I asked again, my voice breaking. “For the love of God…”

I heard my mother take a deep breath.

Then came the sentence that destroyed my world in seconds.

“Laura was in an accident.”

The air vanished from my lungs.

My brain stopped functioning for a moment.

“What?”

Jake shifted slightly in the carrier, sensing my tension, but I barely noticed.

Everything around me became distant.

Muffled.

Like I was underwater.

“She… she was playing on the sidewalk with a little friend when a drunk driver lost control of the car and crashed into the area.”

I immediately brought my free hand to my mouth.

No.

No.

No.

Oh my God, no.

“Laura was hit by the car, sweetheart.”

Tears burned in my eyes instantly.

My heart started racing so hard that I began struggling to breathe.

Laura.

Little Laura.

The sweet girl who had called me Aunt Olivia ever since she learned how to speak.

The child who made crooked drawings for me and said we were best friends.

The little girl who fell asleep holding onto my arm during movies.

The child I had practically watched grow up.

Oh my God…

“I-is she okay?” I asked desperately, already crying.

My mother’s silence answered before her words did.

And that completely shattered me.

My legs weakened.

I had to lean against the cart to keep from collapsing onto the floor.

Around me, the market continued functioning normally.

A woman picked out fruit.

A couple argued over cereal brands.

A child cried near the registers.

The world kept spinning.

But inside me… everything had stopped.

“Her condition is critical, Olivia…”

I felt like someone had crushed my chest.

“No…” I whispered in shock. “No, no, no…”

The tears started falling uncontrollably.

Hot.

Desperate.

Jake shifted again, restless now because of my uneven breathing.

“The doctors asked the family to prepare for the worst.”

The sentence pierced my chest like a knife.

A broken sound escaped my throat while I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to contain the sob threatening to come out too loudly.

No.

Not Laura.

She was just a child.

A sweet child.

Innocent.

My God…

My vision blurred with tears.

Images of Laura running around Julia’s house with her siblings instantly flooded my mind.

The giggles.

The tight hugs.

Her tiny voice calling me Auntie.

My heart felt like it was being ripped from my chest.

“How is she?” I asked through tears. “Is Julia okay?”

My mother took several seconds to answer.

And that already told me everything.

“No, sweetheart… nobody’s okay. Julia is devastated. William too. Brian…”

His name hit my chest violently.

One year.

An entire year avoiding any news about Brian.

One year trying to rebuild my life far away from him.

One year pretending my heart had learned how to forget him.

And now suddenly, it felt like everything was coming back.

My breathing turned heavy.

Confused.

Painful.

Because I could picture Brian in that hospital.

Desperate.

Afraid.

Suffering for the niece he loved so much.

And that shook me more than it should have.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to push away the avalanche of emotions.

But it was impossible.

Because even from far away… I had never stopped loving that family.

Never stopped loving the children.

Never stopped loving Julia.

Never completely stopped loving him.

I walked away because I needed to survive.

Because staying meant continuing to destroy myself.

But the love had remained there.

Quiet.

Hidden.

Untouched.

“What hospital are they at?” I asked quickly.

“Mercy Hospital.”

My heart tightened even more.

I knew that hospital.

Knew the cold hallways.

The overwhelming smell of antiseptic.

The uncomfortable waiting room chairs.

I closed my eyes for a second.

Julia needed me.

At that moment, nothing else mattered.

Not the past.

Not fear.

Not resentment.

Not Brian.

My best friend was suffering.

And I couldn’t bear imagining her facing that alone.

“I’m coming home,” I declared immediately.

My mother fell silent.

As if she had been expecting that answer from the beginning.

“Olivia…”

My voice came out broken.

Weak.

“I need to go, Mom. Julia can’t go through this alone.”

Because I knew that pain.

The fear of losing someone you love.

The suffocating feeling of helplessness.

The desperation of waiting for news while your world falls apart.

And I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I stayed away now.

“Are you sure about this, sweetheart?”

No.

I wasn’t.

Because going back meant facing everything I had spent a year trying to forget.

It meant seeing Brian again.

Looking at him after so long.

It meant risking reopening wounds that had barely started healing.

But Laura was between life and death.

And that was bigger than any fear I had.

I slowly lowered my eyes to Jake, sleeping peacefully against my chest.

My son.

My little secret.

The son Brian didn’t even know existed.

My heart tightened so painfully it physically hurt.

Because for the first time since I left… I knew.

I wouldn’t be able to hide Jake anymore.

If I went home, eventually Brian would find out.

And I had no idea what would happen after that.

I didn’t know if he would hate me.

If he were furious.

If he felt betrayed.

Or if it would destroy whatever balance I had managed to build during that year.

But I couldn’t think about that right now.

Julia needed me.

Laura needed to fight for her life.

I took a deep breath, trying to control my crying.

“I’m sure.”

My mother sighed on the other side of the line.

Tired.

Emotional.

“I can ask your father to pick you up at the airport.”

I nodded automatically, even knowing she couldn’t see me.

“Okay…”

I slowly ended the call.

And stood there in the middle of the market aisle trying to breathe.

The tears continued falling silently.

My chest hurt.

My heart felt ready to explode inside me.

Everything was changing again.

Everything.

I looked toward the large glass window near the entrance of the market.

The snow was still falling outside.

Calm.

Silent.

As if the world hadn’t ended inside me at that exact moment.