บท 42: Hit and Run

When Roselle got back to her apartment, she procrastinated for a while. She took a stroll around her living space remembering how hard she and Michelle have worked to afford it. She looked out the window, gazing upon the Washington Monument. She admired the empty snow. She grimaced at the White House. She truly didn't want to go, but she couldn't bear to stay either.

She finally forced herself to go into her room and pack up her things. No use in putting off the inevitable.

She received a text from Lily.

Lily: Don't even think about showing up to this wedding, Roselle . . . If you object when they say 'speak now', that would really put a damper on things.

Roselle: Don't worry. I already left.

Lily: Well, if you still come, the guards will let you in.

Lily: Also, the food is really good.

Lily: Also Also, your sister misses you

Lily: But like . . . Don't come. You'd totally ruin everything.

So Lily was repeatedly telling Roselle not to come, yet giving her incentive to. And that's when it all clicked. Even earlier, Lily was telling her not to come, but that was a cry for help! What she meant by that was, 'please, come and save me from this mess!'

Roselle: Well, even if I came and objected, that wouldn't change anything, right? You'd still go through with it anyway because you want your daddy's money.

Lily: Yeah, totally. But . . . after you and I had a talk, I realized there were more important things than that.

Lily: But I can't like, just leave.

Lily: I'm too afraid to do it by myself.

Lily: But like, don't come and talk me out of this. You might actually convince me.

She got another text from someone else.

Grandma Scott: I know you said that you didn't want to speak up at the wedding, and I'm not forcing you to do anything, but if you change your mind, my self-driving car is just downstairs from your apartment. Life is short, Roselle. Don't let it go to waste.

That was it. That was the tipping point. She stopped packing and ran out of her apartment and down the stairs. She looked around, and there was the car, sitting right outside as Grandma Scott had said. She put her hand on the hand scanner, and it let her inside. She put in the destination, and she was on her way.

One, two, three, four, five. Inhale. Five, four, three, two, one. Exhale. Was it just her anxiety, or was the car moving excruciatingly slow? She was adrenalized and ready to go. She had to give this one last shot.

What could she do to pass the time as she waited for the car to get from point A to point B? She could munch on her hair. She could feel the grooves on the car seat. She could look out the window.

OH NO, THERE WAS A CAR HURLING RIGHT AT--

* * *

Roselle woke up in a hospital room, with a raging headache. There were voices in the room. The more conscious she became, the more she was able to understand what was going on.

"She's got a fractured left side of her arm that needed some stitches, and she took a serious blow to the right side of her head," the doctor said. "We still need to run some more tests, but she's going to be okay."

Michelle took a breath of relief. "Oh, thank you so much, doc!"

"What happened?" Roselle was able to muster out.

Her sister rushed over to her side, tears in her eyes. "Ro, you're awake! You were in a car accident. It was a hit and run."

"Wait a minute." She sat up, wide-eyed. "We don't have health insurance! How am I going to afford--"

"Don't worry about it, Ro. I already called one of our clients, who's a lawyer, and she's willing to help us out. There was a traffic camera at the intersection where you crashed. She made some calls, and they found the person who was driving the car. It was completely his fault. He ran a red light. We can sue him for the hospital bills."

She laid back down on the bed and closed her eyes. "Well, at least there's that."

"Uh, by the way, there's kinda someone else here to see you . . ."

"Who?"

"Lily. The doctor said family only until you were awake. I told her what happened, and she wanted to come with me even though her wedding is in an hour." She scratched her head. "Do you wanna let her in, or . . . ?"

"Yeah, just let her in."

The doctor went out and signaled for Lily to come into the room, and because she was still wearing her poofy wedding dress, she struggled to get through the door. She finally budged, and she gaped at Roselle in horror--a dramatized version of horror.

"Oh, you poor thing!" Lily exclaimed, taking her bouquet and setting it down on the desk. "This is for you."

Roselle raised a brow. "Uh, thanks."

"Looks like I'm going to have to cancel the wedding now!" She plopped down on the bed and put her hand on Roselle's face. "I can't have a wedding right now, I need to tend to my best friend's wounds!"

"Uh . . . Best friend?"

"Please don't touch the patient's head," the doctor said. "I can see that you're getting married. Rest assured, she's going to be alright. You can go on back to your wedding."

"W--well." Lily fidgeted.

A nurse sprinted into the room, hyperbolic. "The president is here! Armani Parker wants to come into this room. Do I let him in?"

"Let him in," said Roselle.

Without asking, Lily swiped away her hospital blanket and covered her wedding dress with it.

Armani rushed into the room over to Roselle's side. "I got here as soon as I heard what happened," he said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Roselle touched her head. "I've just got a really bad headache, and my arm is killing me, but I'll be alright."

Another nurse came into the room. "Ms. Reyes? Your lawyer is here."

"Let her in too."

Roselle recognized the person who walked into the room: Fable Holt. She beautified her quite a few times for various events--usually fundraising ones.

"Are you alright?" Attorney Holt asked.

"Yep. Peachy. What'd you want to tell me?"

"I did a bit of digging and analysis of the footage I got from the traffic cameras. The man who ran into you appeared to actually be waiting specifically for you."

All of Roselle's stress boiled up in the bottom of her stomach, and her face went pale. "Wha--what?"

"He was watching the road. He was stopped at a curb, and he didn't make a move to pull out until you came on by. Don't worry. He's already in custody, but I wanted to know if you recognized this man." She pulled out a tablet and showed a picture of the perpetrator. "Ring a bell?"

She didn't want to, but she forced herself to look up at the picture. "I've never seen that guy before in my life." She wasn't sure if that made her relieved, or even more afraid.

"Oh my God, give me that!" exclaimed Lily. She snatched the tablet and gawked at the picture. "This guy works for my daddy!"

Armani snagged a peak as well. "Wait a minute . . . you mean to tell me that Warren--"

"Warren orchestrated Roselle's accident," Grandma Scott announced, making her way into the scene.

He shook his head. "N--no . . . Warren wouldn't do that . . . I know him . . . He was like . . . a father . . . to me . . ." Armani stared at the ground, then back at her. "He wouldn't do that!"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, future president," the old woman said. He's capable of all kinds of things you'd never even imagine."

"What incentive would he have to do that to Roselle?!"

"Isn't it obvious? She was on her way to break up the wedding, he saw her as a threat, and he had to stop her before she was able to do so." She glanced at Roselle. "Go ahead and tell him, Ro. Tell him how Warren threatened you that New Years Eve."

Roselle darted her eyes to everyone in the room that was watching her intently.

"Don't worry. If he tries to hurt you again, I'll personally see to it that the Scott family will protect you. Go on. Tell him."

"It's true," Roselle admitted. "That night on New Years, Warren told me that I had to stop interfering with you and Lily or there'd be consequences. He also said he didn't want me to get too involved or else he'd hurt me."

Armani was silent for a long time, staring at nothing. His arms were shaking and tightened, balled up into fists. "I'm going to talk to him."

"He'll twist everything," Grandma Scott informed. "And since you're too close with him, you might get confused."

"What should I do then?"

"Bring him here." Roselle clenched her jaw. "I think we would ALL like to have a little chat with him."