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Her Loss

David Gibson

    The phone rang. Vibrations from the ringer pulled her out of the nightmare that has haunted her since she started dating a biker. Has it finally come? Is this the call that will alter the rest of her life? Before long, there would be no more questions, only reality. What she dreaded was confirmed when the voice on the other end of the call spoke.
    “There was an accident,” he said. “Your boyfriend died on impact.”
    She fell out of bed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Why were they always warm? Sadness should carry with it a glacial essence.
    Having the life that she did, with her parents killing each other in a drunken fight, and her twin brother committing suicide in front of her, she spent many nights crying. With her boyfriend being so good to her, she got used to being without tears most nights. Yet even still, she was able to find her keys and pull out of the driveway with no issues. Driving the rest of the way proved more difficult.
    Medians blurred with the road. Tears so abundant the windshield looked as if it was raining. Lights from other cars on the road looked more like ghosts trying to find their way into the afterlife instead of traffic. Knowing they were cars, she yelled at them hoping one would hear her. Not to help her though, but to ram into her vehicle and take her life, allowing her to see him once again as spirits. They would dance to their favorite song floating across the cosmos.
    Tonight, there would be no dancing. Her car came around the corner, tires grazing the curb. The accident came into view. There were no cops or flashing lights. No paramedics on scene to cover the body. Only their friend who was with him when his bike hit the gravel on the road. Their friend who had to watch as the rider’s head slammed into the guardrail. The friend that now helped pull her from the car because she was too weak to walk.
    “It is not a pretty sight,” he said. “You don’t want this to be the way you remember him.”
    “I have to see him. He would want to see me.”
    He understood and honored her wishes.
    In a few steps, she saw her nightmare in reality. The bike is in pieces further down the road. She saw his head buckled back, barely attached to his shoulders. His legs broken like glass from the bike rolling over him. A blanket of blood tucking him in for his final rest.
    She fell to her knees, blood soaking her sleeping attire. How do you say goodbye to someone who made your life better? She did the only thing she knew how to do. Falling forward so she could cling to his warmth, what little was left. Her boyfriends’ blood now coated her front, face, and all. It was warm. Her heart felt his spirit in the heat, but even that began to fade.
    The night was cold. She was angry that it was cold now. With every gust of the wind hitting them in their final embrace, her anger grew. Why does it have to be cold now? Not even her tears were warm.
    With all sources of heat gone, reality faded away. She didn’t even notice flashing lights covering the street. There was no sound. No engine idling. No rustling of leaves. People’s mouths moved while no words passed their lips.
    She tossed an EMT’s blanket off of her, not knowing how it even got there. “He is not warm anymore. I shouldn’t be either.”
    Death had won today. Her heart too torn to feel surprise. Why do people always leave? The only difference today is she did not have to ask death for mercy.

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