Love Gone by Elizabeth Nelson

CHAPTER 1

    Happiness is being in Alaska. The
cheery bumper sticker was the last thing Faith saw as they slammed
into the back of the silver Toyota Camry idling at the light in
front of them.
    “Holy shit, mom!” Liam, her
15-year-old son, whispered gripping the wheel. Frightened and
exhilarated, he looked around dazedly after the crash, attempting
to recover his bearings.
    “Are you alright?” She answered, and
just as quickly her pulse quickened at the thought of the baby she
was carrying. She was only four months along, was everything
okay?
    Slowly and painstakingly she extracted
her arm from between his chest and the air bag and let her hands
fly protectively to her barely noticeable baby bump. It had been
pure animal instinct to throw her arm across his body at impact,
but now, as she rubbed anxiously at the baby bump with her sore,
bruised arm, she wished she’d let the seatbelt do its work without
her help. Luckily, nothing felt different and her own seatbelt
hadn’t seemed to hurt her or the baby, she surmised,
relieved.
    The old Honda Element didn’t come with
modern protections like airbags, and she’d been upset about that
when they’d bought the car, but maybe it was for the best. The
seatbelts had done their work and airbags could be even more
dangerous, she’d heard. Sometimes even break ribs or hurt precious
cargo like an unborn baby. She rubbed the bump in her belly again
for good measure.
    Just the thought of something
happening to this little one was enough to make her shiver in fear.
Yes, she had a lot to be thankful for, airbags or not.
    “I’m okay. I think I’m okay. Holy
shit,” he repeated.
    “Language Liam,” she said
automatically.
    Ahead of them she could see the
driver’s door opening in the car they’d hit. Please lord, don’t let
anyone be hurt, Faith breathed. She watched as a teenage girl
–seemingly unharmed--got out and stared at them in shock before
turning to assess the damage to the back of her car.
    “Stay here. I’m going to go talk to
her,” Faith ordered Liam as she wrestled to get her seatbelt off so
she could get her insurance information out of the glove
compartment.
    The passenger door opened easily—a
lucky thing, thought Faith, since she didn’t even want to guess at
how much a totaled car might cost her and Mac. Expensive car
repairs were the last type of expense they needed right now when
they were trying to save every cent for the new baby and Liam’s
college education.
    “I’m really sorry mom!” She heard Liam
say as she climbed out the car. “I don’t know what happened. I must
have mixed up the brake and the gas pedal.”
    “I can’t talk about this with you
right now Liam,” Faith told him as she stepped out, “I need to make
sure she’s okay and give her our insurance information. We’ll
discuss this later alright. The important thing is that everyone is
okay.”
    She saw him settle back into the
driver’s seat with a nod. She knew he was going to blame himself.
He’d always been a very sensitive kid. Always the first to
empathize with someone in pain and the first to take it on himself
in some way. He was sweet, and Faith was proud of his good nature
and sensitive demeanor, but she knew that Mac was hoping his son
would grow out of it soon – toughen up before life made his sweet
nature a handicap rather than an asset. He didn’t understand his
gentle son, Faith knew, and she dreaded telling him about Liam’s
latest adventure.
    The important thing is that everyone
is okay. She repeated it to herself to give her courage as she
navigated the angry traffic swirling around them so she could
approach the other car without further incident. It hadn’t helped
tempers any that they had this fender bender at a busy intersection
during rush hour when everyone was trying to get home and out of
the cold Alaskan air.
    “Are you okay?” Faith called to the
girl. “We’re so sorry!”
    “What the hell is the matter with
you?” The girl