Falling for a Storm

Prologue: Lexi

A year ago

Standing outside the emergency room shivering while being pelted by the rain of Western Washington, waiting for the taxi the nurse called to take me home, I'm left wondering how today could have turned so tragic. How did I lose the first man to ever love me? Lose like I have a chance of finding him again, that isn't how death works Lex. Where do I go from here?

I was driving to dinner just 4 hours ago. Our last conversation wasn't that affectionate, we disagreed on where to eat for heaven's sake. Now I have no car and once again I'm left all alone in this world. The cops told me the guy was rushing here to this hospital to watch his baby boy being born. Turns out even with all the time it took for Sabastian to die and the cops to handle the scene he still got here in time, yay him. This man has gained a new person to love yet I now no longer have the only person that has ever truly loved me.

Holding onto the bag of Sabastian's belongings and a paper to pick up his ashes in a week, I pull my jacket tighter against me in hopes of some warmth. Turns out it's super fast to handle a cremation when you have no one to go to a funeral. The family company Bash ran really isn't worried about saying good-bye, they were nice enough to tell me if I planned one they would be there, but seriously I don't need the pity looks and fake condolences.

Getting blasted by a gust of wind and rain I sigh, I hate living in this state, I was only supposed to be here for college but then I met Bash. It's been four years since I graduated from Washington State and begged Bash to let us move back to the South where it was warm. I mean I grew up in Virginia while Bash is from South Carolina.

With the taxi approaching I let out a breath and slid in with a vacant stare. I tell the man our address and glance at the window. As we pull into the driveway I notice all the lights still on. Of course Bash forgot to turn them off even though I reminded him and my tears started to fall once again. I pay the driver and make my way up the steps to what once was our home. Opening the door I take a deep breath in I smell him, it feels like I'm going to hear him yelling at his game in his office at any moment.

Naturally, that moment never comes, but my hope seems to never stop wishing my ears to hear him. Slowly I make my way to our room seeing his clothes thrown around the laundry basket, I just can't, not tonight. I go to my office and just lay on the couch silently crying for the life we'll never have, before sleep overtakes me I again wonder how could this have happened?

It's been a week since Sabastian laid in my arms and died while I cried out for someone to help, the other driver was so remorseful and kept saying sorry while Bash kept telling me it was his karma. Karma for what? I have no clue, that man always drove so carefully, he followed the letter of the law in all things, he helped people and moved his whole life to help his Uncle while he was dying. Why would karma be so cruel to him?

Carrying Sabastian's urn around the house while packing our life up feels weird but just putting him somewhere feels wrong too, I keep wondering what I am going to do with him, I mean I can't take him to the grocery store. What does one normally do with someone that has been cremated. Why didn't Bash tell me what to do with him after this part?

While packing up my office I think back to the reading of Bash's will. It said we have a house in Rockville, South Carolina his uncle left us. Why did we never go? Even just to visit, I was always asking about his childhood wanting to see where he grew up.

I hate this cold state and we could have been somewhere warm this whole time? Nothing is keeping me here anymore, benefit of being without a family, I get to just go wherever I want and now I have this house I've never seen just waiting for me, the lawyer said it's been kept up, and with the money from Uncle Prescott, Sabastian, and my business I can move away and start again without all the pity looks of the neighbors that knew my husband.