Dearest - truly flung out of space

19 - Goodbye

The days have passed. It's Monday morning, 6 AM. Carol wasn't able to sleep for the entire night. I tried to keep her close to me and hugged her the entire night. She's terrified of the trip. Yesterday evening she texted Harge that she would wait at the train station for him to pick her up.

"I don't want to go," she whispers as she tries to keep her tears under control. I squeeze her hand a bit tighter.
"I know, Carol. Trust me, I don't want to let you go either" I reply as I pick up her suitcase.
"What if I just stay? I can hide. He doesn't have the right to take me. We could avoid all this if I just come back home," she says as she tries to push the suitcase back onto the ground.
I shake my head.
"Carol, this is not a question of wanting to go or not. He's testing you. If you don't go on that trip, he will win. If you don't go he will take everything you have left. He will take Rindy because he knows you're not strong enough, that you are not going to fight any longer. But that's not you, Carol! You're a fighter, you're a soldier. You're my reason to go on. You're Rindys' mother. You are her rock. You are her angel. And you need to fight! I know how tired you are but I promise you that it will all be worth it in the end. We will get Rindy back, do you hear me? We will take her home. We will win this horrible game. Together. You and me," I say as tears roll down my cheek. I never thought I'd have this many encouraging words in my heart. But these were the words that I think Carol needed to hear. And now she hears them.

I look into her beautiful blue eyes. The eyes that always remind me of the ocean. They remind me of a peaceful wave that gently travels over the ocean until it crashes into the water to create a beautiful illusion. Or they remind me of the sky. The endless blue sky with its width and length. The sky with all the beautiful clouds creates pictures that we can enjoy from the grounds. The sky allows gorgeous birds to fly, unfold their wings, and travel across the earth.
I look into her eyes and see pain. I see darkness, hopelessness, fear. My heart breaks. My heart breaks for the woman I love the most. Never in my life did I think I could ever love this hard. But now I do. And I want nothing more than to take all her pain away.

"How will I get through these two weeks? Not only will I be away from you but in a different country, on a different continent, " she whispers with a shaking voice. Tears fall down her cheeks, creating shiny stains on her face.
"Carol, I will be here. You can call me any time. I'm always waiting for you. And when you get back, I'll welcome you with open arms, okay? I will wait for you. I'll always be here. And until we meet again, you have this," I say and connect our bracelets with a quiet "klick". I look at her again and wipe the tears out of her face. She looks at the bracelets and a shy smile paints her face.
"I love you," she mouths. I take her hand and pull her into a nearby corner.
"Promise me that you will be strong, okay? For the both of us," I whisper and try to hold back my tears. I don't want to cry in front of her. I don't want to make her feel worse than she already feels. I reach up my hands and wipe her tears away.
"No more tears. No more tears, my angel. Now go. It's almost time. Go, my love," I stutter with a shaking voice. Carols nods and gives me one last passionate kiss. As I feel her lips on mine, I want to melt away. I want to take her back home but I can't. She has to do this. We both know that.

I take her hand and we walk to the spot where Harge will pick her up. The clock tells 7:51 AM.
"How do I look?" she asks in order to try to cheer the mood.
I chuckle.
"You're beautiful, like always," I reply and kiss her hand.
"Goodbye, dearest," she whispers.
"Goodbye, my love," I reply as I walk away.
We both are crying. I smile at her one last time and blow her a kiss before I walk to a ticket machine to hide. I need to watch her when Harge picks her up but I can't let him see me. And so I hide as I try to brush my tears away.

7:58 AM. A car stops and a male figure gets out. Harge. Carol just stands there, showing no emotion. Harge starts to talk but Carol remains silent. He takes her suitcase and she gets into the car. Shortly after, they drive off. I watch the car leave, my heart breaking.
A woman gets closer to me. She looks very concerned.
"Miss, are you alright?" she asks.
"Hmm? Y-Yes, I'm... I'm okay," I reply and give her a fake smile. This is my call to leave. I'm getting way too much attention and I don't like it at all. I run to the bathroom and want to text Amelia, but as I open my phone, I see that she has already sent me a message.