Broken Bridges

Chapter 31

October 24th, 2020
Harper
It's painful to wait for somebody who's never coming back. Nothing hurts more than your heart being left wondering why. After she died, Nothing felt the same but yet the sun kept rising and setting, each day, creating the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets that I could help but believe were her. Sometimes late at night, when everybody else is sleeping soundly, our memories sneak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks. I miss her. Life will never be the same. The worst part of it all is, I never got to say goodbye.
***
I open my eyes and find myself in an empty room. It's dark and cold, not a single sound in the distance. I'm on the ground, so I stand onto my feet, wobbly and lightheaded. I hear a voice, calling out to me.
" Harper." The faint sound breaks the silence surrounding me. I look behind me and find Maliyah, her curly brown hair blowing in the wind that just strangely appeared out of nowhere. Her green eyes are full and her brown skin is glowing. She's as beautiful as an angel. She walks towards me slowly. " Stay alive, Harper. Some people don't get to choose when they die."
" Maliyah.. I.." I reach my arm out to her. She walks right past me. I turn around and see a bright light shining down on us. The light is so bright, I shield my eyes from it. " Maliyah, where are you going?" She walks into the light, completely disappearing from sight.
***
I open my eyes again but this time, all I see is Lilliana and Jeremiyah hovering over me with pleading eyes.
" Oh my god, Harper!" Lilliana gasps and grips my hand tightly. I try to move but my body aches, causing me to stay put.
" I.. I.. I had this weird dream. Maliyah was there. She told me something and then immediately left. She walked into the light and then disappa..."  A tear falls from Lilliana's beading blue eyes.
" Harper." She says quietly. She sighs as if there's something she's struggling to tell me.
" When Jeremiyah brought you here, he called everyone he thought he needed to call. He called your mom. He called his parents. He called me." She pauses. " and he called Maliyah."
" O...Kay?" I say, confused. " Where is she?"
Tears fall from her eyes like rain and she gasps for air. She squeezes my hand tighter. " Oh Harper."
" What's going on? Where's Maliyah?" I ask, suddenly in a panic. Jeremiyah goes to the other side of the hospital bed that I'm in. He grabs my hand, imitating Lilliana.
" When Maliyah got the call, she began rushing here. There was a drunk driver on Highway 32 that swerved right in front of her. They crashed into her and totaled the car. Her ribs were broken, both of her legs, her shoulder was out of socket, her lung collapsed, her heart was punctured." He takes a deep breath. " She was bleeding internally into her brain."
My face becomes wet as I start crying without even knowing. " Jeremiyah. Where is Maliyah?"
" I'm so sorry, Harp. It killed her. She's gone." A tear falls from his eye.
" No." is all I can say. " no. no. no. no." I just saw her. I just dreamt about her!" I scream. My chest breaks as I sob. Repeating " no" is the only thing I can do. Lilliana crawls into bed with me and wraps her arms around me. We lie there, sobbing at the loss of our best friend.
" We were fighting." I choke. " I didn't get to say goodbye."