Guardian Angel

Saving a life pt.2

Beca:

I got home from the station around 7pm. I sat down on the couch and poured myself a glass of whiskey. I couldn't believe Luke was gone. I felt numb. I wasn't able to think straight. A few tears escaped my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. Luckily, Chloe was already asleep, I didn't want her to see me like this. Luke had been my best friend for almost 7 years. It felt like a part of my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I just wanted to drown my grief in alcohol. I downed one glass of whiskey after another.

When I woke up the next day, I couldn't remember if I had fallen asleep first or if I had just passed out from all the whiskey. My head was throbbing. I looked down at the coffee table and saw a glass of water, two pain killers and a note. I grabbed the sheet of paper and read the note:

Morning, Becs.

I'm at the hospital with Lucy, she wanted to see her dad. I didn't want to wake you up. I'll be back soon. I love you!

Chloe

I put the note down and took the pain killers, greedily downing the glass of water. Once my head felt a little better, I decided to take a shower and make some lunch. Chloe came home while I was in the middle of cooking.

"Hey, Becs." She said with the softest voice.

"Hi." I answered with a heavy voice. "Where's Lucy?"

"I brought her to her mother's." Chloe let out a heavy sigh. Normally Lucy was only visiting her mother every two weeks on the weekends.

"How's Ben?" I wanted to know. I couldn't deal with the pain of Luke being dead, so every distraction was welcome.

"He's in the ICU, still unconscious. I talked to the doctors and they told me that he might never be able to walk again because his legs were crushed." Tears were forming in Chloe's eyes.

I put some food onto two plates and put the plates down at the table. I walked over to Chloe and hugged her as tightly as I could. She started crying and I just held her until she had calmed down again.

"I'm sorry, Becs." She said while looking into my eyes. "You must feel so much worse."

"Maybe." I shrugged. "But that doesn't mean your pain isn't real or valid. You're allowed to be upset and in pain over this Chloe. He's your brother." I gently rubbed her arms.

"Yes, but you lost your best friend and I burden you with crying over my brother, who is very much alive." She looked at the ground sadly.

"Babe, you don't burden me with anything. Luke was a police officer, dedicated to saving and protecting people, just as much as I am. I always knew something like this could happen." We sat down and started eating.

"You're still allowed to mourn him, Becs."

A week later I was attending Luke's funeral with Chloe. I was wearing my formal uniform and Chloe was wearing a dark blue dress. They had just taken the flag off the casket and were lowering it into the grave. I had prepared a little speech and when his casket was sitting in his grave, I walked up to the pastor and asked him if I could say a few words. I cleared my throat and looked down at the piece of paper in my hands. I started reading:

"Dear Luke, you have been the best friend I've ever had. You made me cry from laughter, you were always there for me when I needed someone to talk. We have been through so much together... I couldn't imagine a life without you in it, but now I have to."

I was struggling to speak and Chloe noticed. She walked over to me silently taking my hand into hers to comfort me. I continued.

"He died, saving the life of a father, so he could see his daughter growing up. Luke once told me that if he died young, we shouldn't cry at his funeral. He told me to not wear dark clothes but colors that represent life. Sorry, buddy." I chuckled and a tear escaped my eye. "He wanted me to blast his favorite music so loud he could hear it and to not mourn his death but celebrate his life, to smile at the memories instead of crying while thinking about him."

I had to catch my breath for a second before saying my final words to him.

"Luke, I will forever cherish all the memories. I love you to the moon and back." I said while looking into the sky.

I let go of Chloe's hand and took some flowers from the vase standing next to me, tossing them into Luke's grave together with the piece of paper I had been reading from.

"Bye, buddy." That was all I could say before two raging streams of tears coated my cheeks.

When I had gotten back to my spot at the side of his grave, the chief came over with a folded flag in his hands.

"Officer Henson wanted you to have this." The chief gave me the flag and gave one of my arms a firm squeeze with his hand. "He was a good officer." He didn't say anything else. He knew I wasn't the one to care much for words of pity. They wouldn't change anything; they wouldn't bring him back to life.

"Thank you, Chief."

I looked at the flag in my hands. It was an honor for me to receive the flag, since normally only family members got one. Since Luke always hated the sound of bagpipes, someone played Amazing Grace on the violin, while everyone present either tossed flowers or a shovel of earth into his grave. Once everyone had said their goodbyes, they closed his grave. After closing it, there was a twenty-one-gun salute. All my colleagues, the chief and I were standing next to each other, saluting my best friend one last time while the members of the Honor Guard fired their rifles.

Back at home later that day, I took off my uniform, put it away neatly and got changed into some comfy clothes. Chloe had also changed into something comfier and had already gone downstairs, sitting on the couch, getting up when I walked down the stairs. She wrapped her arms around my neck, looking into my eyes. My hands automatically wrapped around her waist.

"What you said today was really beautiful." She gave me a little kiss.

"Do you think he liked it?" I had doubts about if I had found the right words to honor him the way he deserved.

"I think he loved it, Becs. I know I did. It was really sweet."

"Hey, Chlo, uhm, can we put the flag on display in our office?" I asked her while looking into her eyes. My eyes were filled with tears again.

"Sure, Becs. Come on." Chloe took one of my hands and dragged me into the office.

We had a dresser standing on the right side of the room. On top of it, there was a painting, standing on a little easel. Chloe grabbed the painting and put it down beside the dresser.

"What do you say to putting the flag onto the dresser in a display case? We could even get one with his name on it." She asked and I once again asked myself how I deserved her.

"That's a lovely idea. Thanks, Chlo." I went to get the flag and put it on the dresser.

I had gotten a picture of Luke in black and white with a black band adorning it. I put it next to the flag and lit a candle. I was standing there, just looking at it, while holding Chloe in my arms.

"I'm really going to miss you, buddy."

I hugged her and we were standing there, both looking at Luke's photo for a while.

"Thanks for being there with me today." I said after I had brushed my teeth, lying in bed next to Chloe.

"You didn't think I would let you do this alone, did you?" She said while caressing my cheek with her hand. I just shook my head.

"I love you, Chlo. Please don't ever leave me." I really needed to hear this from her right now.

"I won't, Becs. I love you too."

Chloe fell asleep cuddling into my side quickly, I on the other hand, lay awake for a long time before finding sleep.

The next day, it was Monday, I decided to pursue a plan that had been stuck in my head for a few weeks. I had taken some of my vacation days, so I wasn't working for the rest of the week. Chloe however, had to work and I drove her to the clinic. Once I had dropped her off at work, I ran some errands. Back at home, I stored some of the things I had bought in the dresser in our office. I put the folded flag into the display case I had bought. It was made out of dark wood and on the glass at the front it had Luke's name engraved.

"Dude, you made me realize that life is too short, so I'm going to do it." I was talking to Luke's photo on the dresser. I missed him so much. But he wouldn't have wanted me to mope and be sad forever. He would've wanted me to fulfill my dreams and that's what I was planning to do.