It Ends With a BANG

All I saw around me was a salsa of red, orange, and yellow. Full of heat and mesmerizing color. How funny it was. The prettiest things hurt the most. I still remember it clearly. I can smell it. I can taste it. And I can still see her burnt to a crisp. I remember rushing her to the hospital. God Amy. Don't die on me. All of this is your fault.

I sit up in my bedroom with a start. I could feel beads of sweat rolling down my back and dripping from my forehead. I run my fingers through my hair. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault. She didn't love you, she loved him. It's not your fault. I get out of bed and fix the blue sheets. My entire bedroom is blue. It's supposed to be calming but all it reminds me of is the hospital. I start to make my way toward the bathroom when my phone rings and I see the time for the first time since I woke up. 5:00 a.m. Who was calling me this early? My shift doesn't start until six. I look at the caller's I.D. and it's the chief of police. I pick up the phone and almost drop it. It takes me almost six tries to answer the call but I eventually do.

"Officer Bennett." A deep, grave voice says. It wasn't a question making sure I was there but was a statement.

"Sir." I stood up straighter on instinct and my stomach was turning.

"Make your way to the station ASAP. The board and myself will be waiting"

Then the line disconnected before I could even say, sir.

I take a shower in ice cold water trying to distract myself from the anxiety turning my stomach inside out. I jump in my car without even eating breakfast and a reminder pops up just as I am taking the car out the driveway. And that's when I realized today is October 7th. The day Amy, my one true love died.

It takes me about 5 minutes to get to the police station and I go into the conference room. My hand goes up in a formal salute.

"Sir."

"Sit down Bennett, we have some news for you." The same grave voice of Chief Avery says. I sit down and they proceed to tell me news that will change my life forever.

"Bennett, you are being promoted to head of the A354 squad. Please turn in your badge for this one." My stomach loosens with relief as I unpin my old badge and poke my finger with the pin. A small bloom of blood quickly arrives and I wipe on my gun's holster. The chief holds up a new badge in gold rather than silver with the words Squad Capitan on it. I take the badge, pin it to my uniform, thank the chief, and walk over to my post. I meet with my squad and am showered with "Congratulations!" and "Oh my god!" This would have all been nice on a normal day but today it irritated me. I quickly shut it all down and talked them through the latest brief. They all listened with intent and purpose as I told them about a possible shooting near the train station. Within 5 minutes we were all in our squad cars heading towards the station when I got a text from someone I hadn't talked to in exactly one year. Max was coming to visit.

While I was driving to the station, I started to think about all that happened to ruin Max and me. I still remember the first day I saw her. Tall, brunette, blue eyes, and hanging off of some guy. The guy looks like something straight off of a magazine cover. Tall, broad, and perfect from every angle. You know the trope, blond hair, and blue-green eyes. The man looked at me and waved and though I was green with envy, I recognized him as my best friend Max. But Amy. She was something else. Max and I are police officers but Amy, she was a firefighter. Max had met her in Dallas at a conference and that's where they started dating. He couldn't have known that the girl was Amy Brown. My soulmate. We dated for 6 years in High school and then college until she broke my heart. Apparently, she stopped loving me. How? How could she not love me? I am absolutely perfect for her. We are soulmates. Max and Amy moved here to New Jersey and we reconnected. I was sure that she loved me but she was hung up on Max. What does Max have that I don't? I vowed that I was going to make her love me again. She was my soulmate.