What happens when you're just a story written under the moonlit sky? What happens when the only boy you love becomes a faded memory of just someone you used to know? What happens when you can't get your heart back, but that boy left you tattered and...
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My life has been constantly spinning. I don't stop. When I wake up, I write Zachariah a letter and put it in the mailbox. Then I get ready for the day. Since it's summer, I got a job at Dee's Diner. Staying busy means no dwelling on the fact that he has been gone for so many weeks.
What it doesn't do is stop the whispers I hear around me. The ones they think I can't hear. Talking about how lonely I look, and how they don't think Zachariah will ever come back to this dead-end town for a simple girl like me.
But I tune them out by putting my headphones in and listening to songs that are reminders of us, as I dance in the field behind our houses. My eyes closed and memories flooding in and gracing me with a warmth that only Zachariah can give.
When the song goes off and my eyes open, the cold floods in. The chill a reminder that I'm alone.
"Remi!" I hear behind me, but I stand still. Too caught up in the chill and the warmth fighting each other. If I turn the chill will take complete hold and I will have to come back to the reality that he's not here. That he may never come back here. Even though his letter says he will be back. "Remi, didn't you hear me yelling for you?"
I finally give in to the cold. The bitterness seeping into my skin like it owns me. As I turn around, I see Mia with a concerned expression on her face. "Sorry" I mutter. "I was dancing."
Her expression is a look of pity. One I wish she wouldn't give me. It reminds me of the old ladies in town who like to gossip. "He's coming back Remi." The stern look on her face, doesn't match the solemnness in her normally bright eyes.
I just nod my head. "Did you need something?"
You know what they say about looks? How some could kill a person? Some can bring a grown man to his knees. Well Mia's, it makes my heart thump louder in my ears, and my breaths shallow. Like a calm before the storm, you know is coming.
"It's Ann." She tries to keep her voice stern, but it breaks on Ann's name. I'm already walking when she continues. "Daryle got drunk. He messed her up pretty bad. We just found out she's in the ICU." Mia grabs ahold of my hand as I go to pass her. "Remi." The way my name wobbles out of her mouth has me glancing back at the girl who has been my best friend since we were little. "He's going to need you to be strong for him since he can't come home."
It's funny the little things we take for granted. Daryle never really bothered Ann, but then again Zachariah was always there to get the brunt of his harshness. I never thought he would harm Ann with Zachariah gone. I guess in my mind I thought it would get better. Foolishness.
I take off running through the overgrown grass, towards that old green truck sitting in my driveway. My hands shake as I grab the keys out of my pocket and put them in the ignition.
"Remington!" I hear my dad, but he's faraway sounding, and I have to get to the hospital. "Remi, honey. Let me drive you."
My dad is a blur when I look at him. It's when he reaches out to wipe my cheeks, I realize they are wet. "H-ho-how...," but the tears don't stop. My body shaking as emotions run like a stampede throughout my entire body. "How d-do I t-tell him dad-daddy?"
His arms wrap around me so tightly that I can't help but hang on for dear life. I hold onto him with all that I have and lean on the strength he is freely giving out. "You will find a way honey." He tells me, but I don't think that's true.
I don't remember how we got to the hospital, or how I got to this waiting room chair. My mind on the boy who thought the military needed him more than the people here. I think it's in this moment I am mad at him. Mad he left me. Left a hole in my heart. Left me alone with the consequences distance creates like the magnitude of a bad earthquake. Shaking up everything and leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.
"Remington." I look up at the doctor standing a few feet in front of me. "Before Zachariah left, he came in with his mom to add you to next of kin. Can we please talk?"
I nod my head yes. I listen as the doctor tells me she has a brain bleed. A few broken ribs, and how her oxygen is low. They have her hooked up to a ventilator and are hoping with time she makes a full recovery. Although something deep inside tells me that's just not going to happen.
But there. In that hospital waiting room, I do something I haven't done since my own momma left. I fall to my knees and pray that God heals his mom. That when he comes home, she is away from Daryle and happiness shines on her face. I pray for her to be who Zachariah needs. To be a lifeline that I am in dire need of during this hard time.
