After the Accident

After the accident they were at my grandmother’s house, my mother and brother and sister, my grandparents and my old uncle. They wandered around the house, keeping away from my mother, who had collapsed on grandmother’s bed. My young uncle, the one who picked me up from college, came in the door with me, heaving sighs. One after the other. Huge noisy exhales. As if he was relieved he was finally out of the car. I asked all the way why we were coming here. Why weren’t we going to the hospital? His breath is the only thing I hear.
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