CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tammy didn't give me a chance to make her see that Dominick and I should be together. I suppose it was both of our faults. She didn't call me, and I didn't call her. It was the first time that we put such distance between us, and it hurt more than I could have ever imagined.
Dominick was supportive, telling me that I should be the bigger person and call her, that the longer we didn't speak to each other, the easier it would be not to speak to each other. He said it would cause a void that would eventually be hard to repair. Despite his sage advice, I was stubborn. I wanted her to realize that she was wrong and come to me first. It didn't happen though.
Weeks passed, and the pain didn't get better. Sometimes, I'd forget about it, but it was always there. Would Tammy really write me out of her life just because I was marrying her childhood best friend? It seemed awfully stupid, but that was the reality of the situation.
Part of me thought I would eventually get over it, but thinking of having anyone other than my sister as my maid of honor made me sad. The only other friends I had were back home, except for Carmen, and I definitely didn't want her as my maid of honor. Without Tammy, I felt completely alone. There was no one to help me plan the wedding. No one to go dress shopping with. No one.
My birthday rolled around, and I stared at my phone throughout the day, hoping for a text message from Tammy. She never did text me though. I tried to be happy when I came home and Dominick told me he was taking me to a surprise dinner. He didn't deserve to have me like this.
Dominick drove me downtown to Il Vinaio, a little Italian restaurant. As we walked through the parking lot, he gently put his arm around me, guiding me to the door.
“Look whose here,” he said to me as we approached the front of the restaurant, and when I looked up, I saw Tammy standing just inside, staring out at us with a smile, though I couldn't tell if it was fake or not.
Part of me was elated to see her, but another part of me was horrified. All I could do was smile in appreciation, my face feeling tense from the effort.
“Is this going to be okay?” I asked Dominick quietly before he held the door open for me.
“I invited her. Just try not to kill one another.” He gave me a smirk, though it wasn't the least bit reassuring.
“Kim!” Tammy said, holding her arms out to embrace me as I entered the restaurant.
When I hugged her, it felt like heaven. It's strange how much a person can take something as simple as a hug for granted.
As we released each other, I looked into Tammy's eyes and saw genuine warmth. It was the best present ever.
“You girls hungry?” Dominick asked, standing behind me awkwardly.
“I could eat,” I replied with an ear to ear grin.
“I left your gift in the car,” Tammy told me. “I'll give it to you after we're done eating.”
“Just having you here is gift enough for me.”
I was all smiles as we were seated in the middle of the dining room. The air between Tammy and Dominick was still a bit tense, but at least they were trying to occupy the same space, for my sake. It was definitely a special day, having my two favorite people together after so long.
“So, how has school been?” Tammy asked once we had placed our drink order.
“It's good. I can't wait until the semester is over. Dominick's going to take me to Fiji for vacation this summer.”
“Fiji. Nice.” She nodded stiffly.
“How are you and Marcus doing? How's the pregnancy thing coming along?”
“Still trying,” she sighed wearily, and I could tell it wasn't a subject that she was interested in discussing. They had been trying to have a baby for what felt like forever, it was starting to seem like it might never happen.
We made idle conversation until our food arrived. Tammy asked Dominick about business, though he didn't have much to say. Then she talked about everything that had been going on at her job. There always seemed to be an endless amount of drama to discuss from wherever Tammy worked. I wasn't sure if she just had shit luck getting stuck with unproductive employees or if part of having a day job was bitching about it. If I remembered correctly, our parents complained a lot about their jobs too.
We ate Italian food and shared good company, and for a while, I thought everything would be alright. The evening was going absolutely perfect. Strong pleasant emotions were swirling around inside of me. In fact, I was happier than I had been in a while.
“I missed you, sis,” I told Tammy while we were waiting for the bill.
“I missed you too.” She smiled warmly at me.
“Too bad Marcus couldn't come,” Dominick commented.
“I know. He had to work late though. Next time,” Tammy replied.
“So, do you want to help me plan for the wedding?” I asked, hopeful.
Her lips drooped into a frown, and all the tension that had been left at the door suddenly came rushing back in.
“I'd rather not be involved in the wedding,” she said stiffly.
“Why not?” I quirked an eyebrow, trying to hide the offense in my voice.
“I came here because I wanted to spend time with you on your birthday, but you both know how I feel about you getting married.”
“Oh,” I replied quietly. “I thought you'd gotten over it by now.”
Silence hung in the air like poisonous gas, choking me and threatening to make my eyes water. It felt like I had been brought up to the top floor of a building overlooking an amazing landscape and suddenly been dropped. The wind left my sails, and I was quickly becoming emotional. If I cried though, it would completely ruin the night—ruin everything.
The longer we sat there, the less I felt able to contain it. A tear streamed down my cheek, burning a trail in its path. Dominick moved to put his hand on my back, and I instantly recoiled. It was too much to handle. I couldn't be around them anymore.
Emotionally distraught, I stood up and made my way to the front of the restaurant. I needed to go outside for a minute, to recompose myself. Dominick moved to follow me though, and Tammy was right behind him. It was like a train of bad that I couldn't get away from. I just wanted to be left alone, to find somewhere private to cry. If I went into the bathroom, Tammy would follow, so I continued outside, blinded by tears. Their footsteps were right behind me, echoing in my ears. I had to escape. They didn't need to see how miserable I was, not after they had given me this amazing night, not after Dominick had gone out of his way to bring Tammy and I back together.
As soon as I was outside, I put my head down and took off at a run. Dominick was calling behind me, his voice frantic. Tammy screamed just in time for me to feel a hard jolt to my back. Too many horrific sounds echoed in my ears at once: a car horn, screeching tires, and a sickening thud. I fell forward, and the ground came up to meet me, ripping the skin off my palms with near blinding pain.
People were shouting around me. A car door opened. And when I turned, I saw Dominick laying on his side several yards away. I blinked in disbelief, trying to piece together what had happened.
Tammy was standing at the edge of the parking lot with her hands up to her mouth, her eyes wide in shock. There was a truck parked in front of Dominick's body, its headlights shining down on him. The man who had gotten out of it came to Dominick's side, his expression a mixture of anger and panic.
“Hey, Mister, are you alright?” he called down to Dominick, but Dominick didn't respond.
It took me a few seconds to realize that the jolt to my back was Dominick pushing me out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. I must have run in front of it blindly. Dominick took the blow. How fast had the truck been going? Since I hadn't been watching, I couldn't tell, but it had obviously been going fast enough to knock Dominick unconscious . . . or worse.
Now the tears streaming down my face were for a different reason. I crawled towards Dominick's body, barely noticing the pain of my skinned palms as they moved across the asphalt. When I reached him, I saw that he was unconscious and there was a gash in his forehead where his head was touching the ground. Blood was flowing out steadily. I quickly cradled his head on my lap, shouting to whoever would listen to call an ambulance.
This couldn't be happening—wasn't happening. I had lost my parents to a car accident, though not in the same fashion. I couldn't lose Dominick too. I would die if I lost him, especially on my birthday.
The ambulance eventually came, and I rode with Dominick to the hospital. Tammy followed behind us, calling Marcus to see if he would care for Dominick personally. We got to the hospital, and they wheeled Dominick inside, forcing me out into the waiting room with Tammy. I was a hysterical mess, but she held me while I cried, assuring me that he was going to live and that everything would be alright.
It was hard not to blame myself for what had happened. If only I had been paying attention, if I had just kept myself together for a little while longer, then the truck would have driven right by, and Dominick would be okay. But that's not what had happened, and who knew how badly he was injured now or if he would ever recover.