Forever and Ever

Chapter Nine- Sunday

I woke up early, since the funeral was at
3:00 p.m. I took a shower and put on a little black dress that Bryan had always loved. This was gonna be hard. I went in the bathroom, and tried to get all my tears out.
•••
After about three hours of crying, I put on my makeup, curled my hair just how Bryan liked it, and put on some little black heels. I glanced at the clock, the same clock that I glanced at when Bryan called me for the last time, it blinked, 12:45, and that's when I realized I could still probably listen to his voice message. I called his phone. "Hey Bryan here. Just leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Bye. *in the background* Uh, Lauren. How to I turn it off? Oh. *beep* I had forgotten about that part... I started bawling. After about ten minutes I decided to call Mrs. Smith.
"Hey, Lauren."
"Hi, Mrs. Smith."
"How is everything going?"
"Better. Is there anything you need?"
"Actually, yes. Come over here if you can."
"Okay, in on it. I'll see you there in about five minutes."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."
•••
I arrived at the Smith's house at 1:00 p.m. Mrs. Smith greeted me at the door.
"Lauren!"
"Hey, Mrs. Smith. What was it you needed?"  "Here come inside."
We walked inside and sat on the couch.
" To be honest, I just needed to see somebody."
I walked over, slowly, and hugged her, hugged her hard. We sat there in silence, except for the crying. Crying. Crying.

At 1:30, we decided to head to the funeral home. In the car you could feel that he was dead. Gone. Gone forever.

We got there at 1:45, I walked in, and as soon as I saw him, I dropped to the floor, and wept. I got up walked over to the casket, and a tear fell off my face, and onto his. It looked as if he was crying with me.

The rest of his family arrived around 2:30. They just stood there. I wanted to hit them all. Bryan, a seventeen year old died. And all they do is stand there.

The funeral began at 3:02 p.m.
The preacher began, "Bryan's special friend is here to tell us some memories."
I walked up there, glanced at him and said, "Not that it matters, but I was his girlfriend..."
"Bryan Smith was the star-struck love of... my life. Our last words were, um... "Lauren, I love you." "Bryan, *sniff* I love you, too." I I'm the luckiest person in the world because a man who has the big- biggest heart I've ever seen, loved me, yes, me. Until the day he, he died. A tear dripped down my face. Gosh, Bryan was that kinda guy that would make you smile. I stated smiling just saying his name. He- he could walk in the room and in would be a little bit brighter. There is a quote, from our favorite movie. "Some infinities are simply bigger than other infinities." And that was the story- another tear- of our love life.  We met. We loved. And- and We died.  And as for our love story, it ended when - I started crying- he did. Tragically, I've never seen him at a weaker moment, yet I still love him the same, if not more. That day at the hospital, when- when it had happened, I tried to save him, I tried to get a nurse, but I believe that at that moment in time, God did not want him to stay, and frankly, I didn't- I didn't either. I didn't want him to- to suffer. But I tried, I tried to save him, yet I failed.  And I sincerely apologize to all of you for failing tragically. Bryan always wanted to be- to be remembered, as he will. By me. By all of you.  And I think that's enough.  And I sure hope he did, too. We would always talk about our wedding day, and pretend that we were married. So, he doesn't have to worry about me forgetting about him. How could I forget my husband? So if our massive love story had to end, I wouldn't have it any other way."
I walked back over- bawling my eyes out- and sat next to Mrs. Smith. The funeral went on, and we headed to the burial. I sat down, and tears were rolling down my face. Mrs. Smith told me to get a flower from the casket, so I did, grabbing a sunflower. I noticed a card with my name on it. I opened it. As soon as I opened it I knew who it was from. I'd notice his hand writing anywhere. It was from Bryan.

"Lauren, if you're reading this, I love you. I always wanted to marry. If you can find it, there is a box. If you can, please open it." I searched the casket and found a box. I opened it a found a ring. "Lauren, the love of my life, will you marry my dead cold body?" I cried and put the ring on my finger. I didn't say anything, I just kept on reading. "I loved- no I love you. And I don't want anyone else to have you. So, my wife, goodbye. And I love you." I sat back down and everyone showed up. They put my husband in the ground at 5:30 p.m. I cried and went home and I cried more.