Free Reflecting On Wishes (The Wishes Series) by DeAnna Felthauser Page A

and joy was in a broken heap along the side of the highway.
    ***
    “I don’t know why she isn’t here yet , Papá,” Rage had a worried look on his face. He had been at his dad’s house for nearly an hour now and he had expected Angel to arrive right after him.
    “Try calling her again . Maybe she decided to swing by and see Dakota on her way over here.” Vito scratched his head, walking into the living room and opening the front door to look outside.
    “No answer. I keep getting her voice mail. I tried her apartment too but there’s no answer there either. I think I should go look for her,” Rage was getting antsy. This wasn’t like his baby sister to not show up or at least send a text if she was running late or stopping somewhere else. 
    “I’ll stay here in case she shows up. You go ahead and drive to the bank and then the shop. Swing by her apartment if she’s not at either place.” Vito crossed his arms over his chest with a worried look on his face.
    “On my way,” Rage replied as he walked out the front door. The ringing of the house phone stopped him in his tracks. Turning, he went back inside, listening when his dad put the phone on speaker and said . “Hello.”
    “Vito, this is Jacobs. I hate to be the one to call you but I’m off Highway 129 just past the exit for TT Highway at the scene of an accident. It’s Angel…”
    “Oh God, Jacobs—is she okay?” Tears instantly welled up in Vito’s eyes as he waited for an answer. Rage came up and stood beside him, his face going pale.
    “She’s alive, Vito. But she’s banged up pretty bad and unconscious. They are loading her in the ambulance now to take her to the hospital.” Jacobs’s voice was thick with emotion. This was the part of his job he hated. Living in a small town where everyone knew each other made it especially hard to break bad news to someone.
    “We’re on our way. Thanks for calling me.” Vito hung up and tossed the phone on the couch, grabbing his keys off the coffee table and followed his son out the door. Once they were in the truck, Vito slammed his fist against the steering wheel in frustration before starting it up and pulling out of the driveway, rushing towards the hospital.
    “She’ll be okay, Angel is tough Dad.” His voice was shaking but he was trying to put on a brave face for their father even though inside, he felt as if his insides were tearing apart.
    The drive didn’t take long but seeing the remains of the accident on the side of the highway wa s nearly Vito’s undoing. “Aye dios mio! Her bike is obliterated, Rage.”
    Rage reached over and gripped his dad’s shoulder, trying to give him comfort even though words failed him. It was dark outside when they pulled into the emergency parking and headed inside. They were informed by the woman at the check-in that the doctor would come out to talk to them when he knew something. A news crew entered the waiting room not long after Rage and Vito were seated. Immediately, Rage shielded his father from them and politely edged them out the door, giving a statement that they didn’t know the extent of her injuries yet and to please respect her and the family while they waited for news. Once he had them satisfied he came back inside and called his wife Nahni so she would hear it from him and not on the news. He hated worrying her since she was pregnant, but Angel was her best friend, not just her sister-in-law. After he hung up, he dialed Dakota’s number. A sick feeling in his stomach had acid burning up into his throat when he told him what happened.
    ***
    Dakota had just gotten home from work. As he changed out of his scrubs and into shorts and a t-shirt, his phone rang. It was a good thing he was sitting down when Rage told him about Angel’s accident because his knees went weak and he felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. He had heard the sirens earlier but never dreamed it would be for Angel. He had to be there with her. He knew