Sweet Sofie

He heard Sal take a deep breath. “She won’t be happy to hear that.”

Just like that, Eric was back to feeling emotional, only this time anger set in. “Ask her what she would do.”

Sal didn’t respond to that. Instead, he asked, “Will you do me a favor, then?”

“What?” Eric stared out his window.

“As long as you two been together, don’t even consider ending things without giving her a chance to explain. You wanna know why? Ask her.”

Eric agreed to that much, but he didn’t say when. Ending things. The thought hadn’t even entered his mind. Getting through the weekend without her, then another full week away, was going to be a challenge in itself. He couldn’t even imagine his life without Sofia.

***

It wasn’t until his drive home Sunday night that Eric finally decided to answer Sofia’s call. He’d listened to every single one of her messages. She’d cried in just about all of them, which only made him choke up, as well. They were all the same. She was sorry, she loved him, she’d never forgive herself for hurting him, but not once had she mentioned the only thing he needed to know. So he slipped in his earpiece and answered her call.

“Why?”

He heard her sniffle, but she said nothing at first. Then she spoke up. “I don’t know.”

“Bullshit, you don’t just do something like that for no reason.”

“I swear it just happened. I didn’t even have time to think about it. It was so fast. Eric gripped the steering wheel tighter. “You have feelings for him, Sofia?”

“No! Not at all.”

Eric took in the sincerity in her voice, then remembered what Sal had said. The ass**le took advantage of the situation.

“Did he touch you?”

Her silence made his heart race. Why the hell was he asking this? He didn’t want to know. But he had to.

“Well, yeah.”

“Where?” He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t believe the f**ker had walked over and talked to all them, knowing full well what he had done. “How, Sof?”

“He just put his arms around my waist.”

“You said it was fast. How did he have time to do that?”

“It was only for a moment and then when I pulled away, he touched my hand to pull me back.”

Eric’s insides ignited. “He forced himself on you?”

“No! Eric, please, you’re making this worse. It was just a kiss and then I left. I swear.”

The image scorched his mind. He stepped on the gas. His heart threatened to pummel out of his chest. All the emotions he’d felt this weekend had done a complete one-eighty. He was now mad as hell. If he ever saw Brandon again, no matter how much time had passed, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

The car in front of him slowed suddenly. “Fuck!” Eric swerved to miss it. The car in the next lane clipped him from behind and his car spun all the way around. When he came to a complete stop, he heard the skidding, but didn’t see the truck until it plowed into his front passenger side. The last thing he remembered was the airbag slamming into his face.

***

The terrifying moments after she lost Eric’s call were a blur. Sofia remembered trying to call him back, but her hands trembled so much she could barely hit the right buttons. Angel and Alex had run in her room when they heard her cries. They both knew she and Eric had had a fight this weekend, but only Sal knew the details.

With her being so hysterical, it took a while for her to explain about the skidding and horrendous crash she’d heard just before the line went dead. Angel had been immediately on the phone with Eric’s dad. Nobody knew anything for what seemed like an eternity. An excruciating hour later, Angel got a call from Eric’s dad. He was on his way to the emergency room, but he didn’t have any details yet.

Sofia felt faint when Angel told her. She literally felt the blood drain from her face. Sal was gone. He’d left earlier, taking the very same drive Eric had to Los Angeles. Angel drove them to the hospital, Alex sitting in the back seat holding and consoling Sofia and insisting it wasn’t her fault.

By the time they reached the hospital, Sofia had a massive headache and she thought she might faint she was so scared. They walked in together, Alex supporting her, and met Eric’s dad in the emergency waiting room. He spoke to Angel first, telling him Eric had suffered a shattered wrist and a broken nose from the airbag. Sofia didn’t miss the cold way he completely ignored her.

They waited for over an hour before they were told they could go in and see Eric. But they could only go in one at a time. Eric’s dad went first. He never once addressed her. He knew Eric had been on the phone with her when the accident happened, but how much did he know about their fight? One thing was for thi onsure, Eric’s dad had always thought Eric was too young to be in such a serious relationship.

He’d always been polite to her, but she could never help feeling like he didn’t approve of the amount of the time Eric spent with her, the commitments they’d made to each other so young.

His dad was only in there for ten minutes when he came out. Finally, he spoke to Sofia, but his expression was blank. “He wants to see you.”

She stood, nervous, but anxious to see him. As soon as he saw her, his heart-wrenching expression sucked the air out of her. She rushed over to the side with his unbandaged hand, brought it to her lips and kissed it. He took his hand back, but only to pull her to him. She leaned over, carefully and wiped the tears that streamed down his face.