Lifeflight

Chapter 1 - Old Friends

"Mars, cheer up. Everything's gonna be fine," Noah says to me as he pulls me up off the couch. He hugs me close and wipes the tears off of my cheeks.

"You know I hate it when you call me Mars." I crack a smile.

"Yeah, but that means no one else gets to call you that. You love me the most so it's special," he says and I nod into his chest.

He's right. No matter how many horrible breakups I go through, it's always me and my brother against the world. He's always been there for me. He's my best friend, mother, father, teacher, and anything else you could imagine. We'll always be together.

"Let's dance, Marley. You need some cheering up." Noah grabs hold of my waist and spins me around in circles and I can't even remember the name of that boy. I'm laughing with tears streaming down my face and we both look crazy, dancing to no music, but since when do I care?

*****

I wake up in a pool of tears and turn over on my side. When I pick up my phone, the screen says 2:26. I have a text message from my best friend, Charlie.

"Mar, I heard. Are you okay? How are your parents? Marley I am so sorry. Text me when you get this. I'm worried about you."

I can't think rationally enough to process the fact that I should respond to Charlie. I don't have the energy to from a coherent sentence so instead I just set the phone back on my bedside table and lay my head down on my pillow. It's wet and cold from my sweat has drenched it. My eyelids are heavy and I let them slide shut. Surprisingly, I drift back to sleep quickly.

*****

The glare of the sun through through the window invades my bedroom and I groan at the thought of getting up and facing the day. My cheeks are hot and sticky and my eyes feel like they're swollen shut. *"Surely I can't look THAT bad.." I think to myself and run to the bathroom to check the mirror. I was wrong. I COULD look that bad. And I do.

I decide a shower might help tame my matted hair and wash the sweat off of me at least. Whatever I have to face today can just wait an extra thirty minutes. I turn the knob on the shower to hot and stand, letting the water warm up.

Any moment now I expect Noah to bang on the wall and get angry with me for waking him up early on a Saturday. The thought causes my chest to dry heave and my heart to beat in double time. I won't ever hear Noah's voice scolding me or giving me courage again.

My eyes well up with tears and I do my best to shake them off. I get into the shower and the whole time I'm under the scalding water, I'm only going through the motions. Saying each thing I do over in my mind to prevent me from thinking about Noah.

When I finally manage to get out of the shower and dressed, I walk downstairs. The house seems so empty. Even though Noah wouldn't usually be here, I can feel him missing.

I turn on the TV to fill the deafening silence around me, but I can't focus on anything on the screen. Instead I'm going over every part of the room, picturing my brother in each spot. The recliner that we used to flip over on it's back when we were little, the couch that he'd come home and nap on, the floor where he surprised me with a puppy on my sixteenth birthday. Noah took the dog with him to Penn State when he left. That dog is still in Noah's dorm, waiting for him to come back.

This isn't helping me, so I try to find a movie to watch, anything to keep my mind occupied. I find some low-budget soap opera and do my best to engross myself in the actor's problems. It works for a few minutes, but the actor isn't good. I switch to another station.

A knock at the door sends a chill through me. I glance down at myself. In my brother's sweatshirt and shorts, I am in no condition to answer the door. "Maybe if I just stay here, they'll go away" I say to myself.

The knocking continues. I stay still. Thirty seconds later, another knock. I give up on trying to escape whoever is at my door and get off the couch. Walking down the hallway towards the door, I catch a glance of myself in the mirror. My hair is still wet and I have no makeup on, making my swollen eyes look worse. "Forget it. Who cares?" I shrug my shoulders.

Another knock and this time I have the inclination to say, "I'm coming," loudly enough for my visitor to hear. I get to the door and stand up on my tiptoes, checking the window cut out at the top of it. Whoever it is has a hoodie on with the hood over his head to combat the frigid cold outside.

I should be nervous to open the door to a stranger, but I can't seem to tell myself not to. I open the door and I am all the sudden faced with someone I truly did not want to deal with. Ever. Let alone today.

"Come in,Reed." I make sure he can clearly see the disgust on my face and know that the only reason I'm being kind is because I don't have enough energy to do anything else.

He obliges and pushes past me into my living room, sitting down on the couch like he's been here a million times and he owns the place. Well I am right.. About the first part anyway. Reed hasn't been here since we broke up six months ago. He has been here a million times but he does not own the place.

From his position on the couch, Reed motions me to sit next to him. I give him a crooked look but I plant myself in the space next to him.

"So, I heard about Noah." My breath catches in my throat. "I'm really sorry to hear that Marley. I can understand how that must feel." Reed only came here because he heard Noah was gone. He didn't really WANT to be here.

I unintentionally raise my voice at him,"No! You don't understand! He was my brother and you were just dating his sister! You could never understand how much I loved him," my voice gets quieter as I talk and I sink into the couch cushion behind me.

There's silence for a short period of time and I eventually wonder if Reed is still sitting there. I look up and catch him looking at me nervously. My eyes are welling up with tears again.

"I'm sorry," I tell him. "I have no idea where that-"

I am cut off by the familiar feeling of Reed's lips crashing down onto mine. It's been so long since I've kissed him and it still feels good. Why is he kissing me? Is this all because of Noah? That thought makes me want to break away from the kiss.

I lean back and my eyes dart to the couch cushion. I can feel his eyes still on me but I'm afraid to look up at him. I'm worried that his face will be twisted and angry. However, what I do see is not what I expected at all.

Reed's hand reaches under my chin and lifts my head so that my eyes meet his. He looks soft, almost concerned. "It's okay, Mar. Let me help you with this," His hand moves from my chin and he opens his arms all the way, signaling that he wants me to lean into him. I don't hesitate.

His arms and warm and comforting and for a moment I forget that he's here because of Noah. I want to believe that he is really here for me. I want to think that when he heard that my brother had died, he knew how distraught I would be and was worried about what would happen to me. I hope that Reed really will be here with open arms for me.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.