The Breaking Point. Mariella Starr

the witness reports, and the charges against the other driver, a Ms. Tanya Adelson, age twenty-five. The speed camera had registered the convertible at thirty miles over the speed limit, in addition to running the red light. Ms. Adelson had been brought into the emergency room but had soon afterward been Medevac’d to a trauma center in Baltimore. The officers had no knowledge of her condition. The passenger in her vehicle had not been wearing a seatbelt. He had been ejected from the convertible on impact and pronounced dead on the scene.

      An open and nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels had been discovered in the car. Ms. Adelson had been cognitive enough to agree to take a chemical alcohol test in the emergency room. She was three times over the legal alcohol limit and charged with Felony DUI.

      Tanya Adelson had already been convicted of manslaughter-by-vehicle. This was her fifth DUI charge, her second with manslaughter. She was supposed to surrender herself to the courts the following Tuesday for a six-year jail sentence. With a second trial pending, she would most likely be spending a good portion of her life behind bars. The vehicle she had been driving was registered to a stepbrother. He had reported the car stolen two days before the accident.

      Faith had mixed feelings about Ms. Adelson. She was angry that the young woman could be so irresponsible, but she was also annoyed that the courts had released her on her own recognizance, and allowed her to hurt others. A vehicular manslaughter charge, attached to a DUI charge was not a minor offense. The young woman had ruined her life, in addition to causing the deaths of two people. She had to be held responsible for her actions and the consequences of those actions. Faith did feel sorry for Ms. Adelson’s family and those of her victims.

      Faith had no memory of the crash or of being transported to the hospital. She didn’t remember what happened in the emergency room or the days following. She was still going for daily scans, but she was being assured that she was healing. She had a single broken rib, an assortment of hideous bruises, and a cast on her left foot from a minor break. Every muscle in her entire body hurt, from head to toe. She was eventually allowed to stand on her feet and go to the bathroom on her own, but she refused to look in a mirror again.

      When the various doctors and nurses came into the room, all family members were asked to leave, except for Ales. She had visitors, but she didn’t want anyone seeing her, and Ales was designated to act as her guard to stop people from coming into her room. She accepted flowers and Ales made the phone calls to thank everyone for their concern. Faith couldn’t speak to anyone because her speech was slurred because of the stiches in her lip. Ales’ family members were the only people allowed in her room.

      Her husband had gone against her wishes and retrieved their son, Ricco, from baseball camp. Once she was transferred into a regular hospital room, he was allowed to visit. At eight, he’d been frightened by her appearance, but thought her cast was awesome. He’d been the first to sign it. She did appreciate seeing her son, and Ales had assured her, that Ricco had been given a sanitized version of the accident, so he wouldn’t be frightened. He was staying with Jill and Carrie’s families as they lived nearby in the same neighborhood.

      Ales was coming and going, and he tried to talk to her, but Faith closed her eyes and feigned sleep when he was in the room, which was often. She didn’t want to hear apologies. She didn’t want to listen to excuses. She didn’t want to be told to be reasonable, and she didn’t want anyone telling her what she was going to do after she left the hospital.

      The first week went by quickly, and Faith slept through most of it. She suspected it was because of the pills she was being given regularly. At least when she was asleep, she wasn’t aware of the pain, or of her own thoughts.

      It was at the end of her second week of hospitalization when Faith was told she could go home.

      “I don’t see any reason you can’t be released today,” Dr. Mason said after he examined Faith. “I’ll get the paperwork signed, and you should be released by noon. Don’t forget to make an appointment to see me in my office, and if anything changes, call immediately. I wouldn’t advise being alone for the first couple of weeks.”

      “Thank you,” Faith said. She lay against the propped pillows in the hospital bed and closed her eyes. Then she sat up and maneuvered herself from the bed carefully. She limped over to a storage closet and tried to pull her battered suitcase from it. Someone from the police department had dropped it off when they’d brought her into the emergency room. The hard casing was cracked, but the wheels still worked. They hadn’t brought her shoulder bag, and she wondered what happened to it, and her purse.

      “Here, let me help you with that,” a young woman who was on the cleaning staff said, hurrying into her room.

      “Thank you,” Faith said.

      “Do you need a nurse?”

      “No, I just need to get my suitcase opened,” Faith said, and the woman lifted the case onto a rolling bedside table and opened it for her. A few moments later, a nurse’s aide appeared, and she assisted Faith in getting dressed.

      “Good news!” Ales exclaimed, coming into Faith’s room with Jill on his heels. They were both smiling. They found her sitting on one of the stiff hospital plastic chairs already dressed in a loose zipped sweatshirt and sweatpants. He was smiling. “I see they’ve already told you. You can come home!”

      “No,” Faith said.

      Ales looked concerned. “What do you mean, no?

      “I’m not going there,” Faith said, trying to sound firm. “I want you to take me to Hancock. I’m going to stay at my parents’ house.”

      “You can’t, Faith. You need someone to take care of you. I’m taking you home.”

      “I will not go there,” Faith repeated. “I told you, Ales, I am through. I can’t take any more. I’ve been with you for thirteen years, and the last five have been crap because you have stopped listening to me. I refuse to believe this is what my life was intended to be.”

      “Honey, I...”

      “I don’t want to hear it,” Faith said in a monotone voice. “I’ve heard all the excuses before, over and over again. This time, I’m not listening. I don’t believe you. I’m going to Hancock. If you don’t drive me there, I’ll call a car service.”

      “You can’t stay there by yourself.”

      “You can’t stop me!” Faith said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to Hancock, and I’m going to live in peace.”

      “Faith!”

      “I’m done, Ales, and I refuse to accept any more,” she said. “If you won’t take me, I’ll find my own way. I’m not going to deal with you overriding my concerns and my opinions, and I will not deal with your mother anymore. I won’t!

      “Sweetheart!”

      She ignored his interruptions “I want you to keep Ricco for a little while, or send him back to baseball camp. At least until I’m capable of taking care of him. It’s a good thing my left foot is in a cast, and not my right, so I’ll still be able to drive and get around. It will probably be another couple of weeks until the insurance companies will settle. Until then, they will have to provide me with a rental car.”

      “Faith, you’re not thinking straight,” Ales said. “You haven’t been cleared for driving.”

      She shook her head and winced at the movement. “I know enough people in Hancock that I’ll be able to get around! You made your choice when you told Cybil she could come to our house after I had already said no. I didn’t agree to this, Alessandro. I didn’t.”

      “She didn’t realize what those teenagers were doing,” Ales protested.

      “When you took me to that house, you said it was our home,” Faith said in a voice that was devoid of all emotion. “It has never been my home. You picked it, and you made the decision to buy it.