The Last Goodbye

The Last Goodbye Ch 1

Just a week ago I had the perfect life. I had a home, loving parents, I went to a good church, I just started the second semester of my senior year, and I was finally with the girl I had a crush on since middle school. Her name was Janet, she was a year younger than me, and I've been in love with her since I first laid eyes on her. Her family moved to my town from Colorado about five years ago, and the first time I saw her was in church one Sunday. She and I talked a little that day, and we thought the only time we would see each other was at church. Well, later that day, we found out that we were next door neighbors. Janet and I became friends fast, and it took me the entire five years for me to gather the courage to tell her how I felt. This past week was the happiest in my life, until yesterday, when my life just seemed to crash.

I got a call from Janet's dad, and he seemed to be on the verge of crying. He told me to come to the hospital immediately, Janet had gotten in an accident. I rushed to the hospital with my mind playing over and over how she had gotten hurt.

She was driving home late last night when a drunk driver hit her car. When they made contact, the drunk driver's car went flying off the side of the road and somehow landed upside down in a creek beside the road, he didn't make it. Janet's car was thrown across the road and hit a tree on the driver's side. According to the doctors, she had several broken ribs, a fractured collar bone, and she suffered from internal bleeding. They said she might live, but there was nothing they could do for her except wait.

I was allowed to go into her room, she was sleeping. I pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat. I was determined to remain by her side until she got better. I looked at her, she seemed so frail like this, and she normally was so strong. Her eyes slowly opened. "Hey, Janet. You doing okay now?"

"I'm fine. My side hurts a little, but I feel fine," Janet said weakly.

"I'm glad you're okay, I was so scared when I heard about the accident," I said while reaching for her hand, "They said that you were hit pretty hard by the other driver."

"Yeah, he did hit me pretty hard, and the next thing I knew was I slid and hit a tree and his car headed toward the creek. By the way, Tim, how is he?"

"...He didn't make it. The paramedics said that he drowned in the creek because his windows were down and he landed upside down."

She looked down the same way I had seen her before, whenever she was feeling upset. "Janet, are you alright?"

"Yes. I just wish that the other driver was still around, so I could forgive him."

That was something I had always admired about her, she was always ready to forgive others. She seemed to have an endless supply of kindness to give to everyone.

She finally looked up at me with her green eyes. "So, what did the doctors tell you about me?" she asked.

I wasn't sure how much the doctors had told her, I didn't want to scare her. "They told me that you had some broken bones and...that you should get better soon."

"They didn't tell you anything else?" She asked me. She also had a talent for telling if a person is hiding something.

"They did tell me something, but I wasn't sure if they told you everything."

"They did, but I'm not scared," she told me "I'm prepared for whatever happens, even if I die."

What she was saying was starting to scare me, "Please don't talk like that, Janet, you are going to get better! I... I can't imagine how I could go on without you. We have known each other for a while now, and I don't-"

"Tim, listen. I don't want to leave you, but when it's my time, I have to go," she said as her eyes started to tear up, "Just promise me that you will be strong enough to accept it if I do die."

"I don't-"

"Please, Tim. Please promise me."

"Okay, I promise to stay strong."

Janet looked relieved, but even more drained than when I first walked in. She leaned back in her bed, "Alright, thank you. I just don't want you to be sad for the rest of your life if I don't make it."

I was really wanting to get the possibility of her dying off my mind, "Can you please stop talking about that. I already promised to be strong. Now can we please talk about something else?"

We talked about what has happened at school recently, about events that our church was planning, and what we were going to do after she got better. At one point, my earliest friend, Maddie, showed up for a good half hour and the three of us talked about many other things during that time. After a while, Janet was getting a little tired so Maddie decided that she should leave, which she did. I decided that I was going to stay at Janet's bedside for the night.

After about fifteen minutes, Janet fell asleep. I tried to stay up and watch her for the whole night, but I fell asleep after an hour. At around three in the morning, Janet shook me awake. When I looked at her face, she seemed to be both happy and sad at the same time.

I was felling a little worried, I grabbed her hand and asked her "What's going on? Are you alright?"

She smiled at me and said "Yes I am, and I just wanted to talk to you one last time."

One last time? "What are you talking about?"

"I'm going home tonight, and I just wanted to say my last goodbye to you."

"Wait, what? Don't say stuff like this, and you need your rest."

"No, I won't be needing any rest. I will be going to Heaven soon."

"Are you saying that..." I was starting to get scared again.

"Yes, I'm going home."

"Please don't-"

"I just want to say goodbye."

"But-"

"I love you." With those last three words, she closed her eyes and her grip loosened. The machines monitoring her health began giving off that loud tone when the patient's heart stops. Doctors soon came rushing in. Half of them surrounded Janet, trying to figure out what was wrong. The other doctors came up to me and started asking me a bunch of questions, but I was too concerned with Janet's current state to answer any of them. Five minutes passed and the doctors finally decided to give up, and it was clear what was wrong with her.

She was gone.