COLLISION COURSE
copyright by
C.P. Rowlands
Chapter One
Two years later
A light wind cooled Brie’s face and she looked up from her book, suddenly aware of the sounds around her. Tree branches scraped above her, their dry leaves adding a little harmony. Kids behind her played soccer and their laughter floated past her.
Her foggy mind drifted. This Milwaukee park next to Lake Michigan had been hers forever. She’d always found it odd that she’d grown up, moved away, then ended up living in the same neighborhood she’d started out in. When she and Niki had bought the house across the street from this park, she felt as if she’d traveled in a circle.
The noise from the soccer game caught her attention again. She’d played soccer here too, learned to skate and ride bikes as well. The breeze swept through the elm, oak, and pine trees in front of her. The last of the yellow wild lilies nodded in the light wind. She and Niki had planted those five years ago in the middle of a dark, moonless night. They had brought them from their nearby house in a wheelbarrow with flashlights. Then they had planted wild daisies and tiger lilies on the other side. Those flowers, like many in her own yard, had been dug up in the woods in northern Wisconsin. It was illegal to dig up wildflowers in this state and carried a hefty fine if you were caught. The park had left them alone and probably assumed some good citizen had donated them from a local nursery.
Niki, always stretching boundaries. The day they’d been shot, she’d been driving barefoot. Brie tilted her head at the yellow lilies. Our flowers, baby.
Several children ran past her, startling her. Brie adjusted the open textbook in her lap, a book she had written for her own class. She tried to concentrate on the words but the printed page blurred, and she rubbed her damp eyes. Were these tears ever going to stop? Disgusted, she tossed her apple core into her brown sandwich bag just as a gust of wind carried the paper sack off the bench. She bent to retrieve it and a skateboard rolled dangerously close to her head.
“Hey,” she yelled at the glimpse of red shorts and cropped white T-shirt disappearing quickly over the hill, out of her vision. “Darned kids,” she said to no one in particular as her heart raced. “Darned everything,” she added, standing and brushing sandwich crumbs off her short black skirt.
“Brie,” someone called and she saw her sister Valerie walking toward her.
“How’d you know I was here?” Brie said.
“That blond hair of yours is like a laser, and you’re not exactly short.”
“Like you?” Brie said but smiled. At almost five-eight, Brie was easy to spot in most crowds. “Did you come directly from the hospital?” She looked at Val’s blue scrubs.
“Mom has the boys, and I wanted to see you so I came by on my way to pick them up.” They began to walk toward Brie’s house. “I stopped by your house first. Your yard looks gorgeous. Niki’s flowers.”
“I mowed this morning,” Brie said. “She’d have loved those blue ones. I think they’re called blue wood asters and I can’t ever tell anyone where we got them. I remember planting them.” She looked at her house, smelling the freshly cut grass, and cleared her throat as her eyes threatened to fill again.
“Okay, illegal but lovely.” Val grinned, but the roar of a dirt bike rose above her words. Brie stepped back in a panic.right into the path of a skateboarder. There was a sharp pain and suddenly she was on the rough concrete of the sidewalk.
A woman’s worried voice said, “Are you all right? Omigosh, I am so sorry.”
Brie’s eyes locked on the red shorts and tanned skin. Children talked excitedly in the background. Was someone hurt?
“Did the bike hit someone?” Brie heard her words slur and closed her eyes as strong arms gathered and lifted her.
“A bike? No. There wasn’t a bike. Hang on. Your sister’s bringing her car.”
The warm arms holding her increased their grip and she was deposited on the front seat of Val’s big SUV.
“Thank you,” Brie mumbled and looked up into gray eyes. Deep concerned gray eyes with long black lashes.
“Don’t move.” Val used her nurse voice as the car seat reclined. “I’m driving you to Urgent Care.”
“What happened? I heard a dirt bike.”
“No, there wasn’t a bike,” Val said. She moved away but Brie heard her talking to someone. The SUV moved and Brie’s eyes opened to the ceiling of Val’s car. “Did someone get hurt?” she asked.
“You, dufus. You got hurt. Someone on a skateboard ran into you.”
“What’s next?” Brie said softly. She rubbed her eyes against the lurking tears.
“Weren’t you on duty at Omni last night? Have you been to bed yet?” Val asked.
“I slept when I came home, got up, mowed the yard, and went back to sleep.” Brie saw a big smear of blood on the palm of her hand. “Where did this blood come from?”
“You were down and out like a stone.” Val parked the car in the Urgent Care lot and examined the blood on Brie’s hand.
“I didn’t get a good look at that kid, but his mother was with him.”
Val threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, brother. That was no kid that hit you, cookie, and that’s probably her blood on your hand.” She was quiet for a moment, still holding Brie’s hand. “Honey, when did you get so thin? You’re melting away.”
“It’s your imagination, ” Brie said. “I weigh the same as last week.”
“Your eyes look older than our mother’s.” Val sighed and took the keys out of the ignition.
Brie turned her head away. “My eyes weigh the same too. I’m making progress. I’m past spontaneous weeping in public places. Well, almost.” Her side began to ache and she shifted against the pain. “Don’t you think we should go inside?”
~ End of Excerpt ~
C. P. Rowlands 