Night on the Bridge

Chapter 3

As soon as the car stopped she jumped out. She crossed through the lanes of traffic without looking both ways. She didn't have time. She was racing against it. She was racing to Val.

The bridge was so much longer now that she was on foot. Railing after railing rising higher into the air. It took her a hundred yards to see his figure again. He was leaned against the railing, looking at the waters below. It was dark and the figure was swaying, but those curls were undeniable. It was Val.

She tried calling out to him, but at first he didn't seem to hear. He just kept staring at the water. The closer that she got, the more she realized that he probably couldn't hear anything. He was too far in his head. But then he climbed onto the railing and she started to scream.

They were alone on the bridge. The taxi was long gone, along with a very grumpy driver. His mood would lighten soon enough however. She'd left $100 in the back seat. Her mood, however, was quickly taking a nose dive. Val couldn't hear her, and he kept looking at the water.

She was meters away from him now. She was still screaming. Her voice was cracking between the words. She could feel the air running in and out of her throat. But he didn't turn his head.

She was close now. Close enough to touch him. Should she touch him? Should she break him from his trance? But what if it scared him? What if he fell? What if he fell of the bridge and into the water and died? He would most certainly die within the waves. If the initial impact of the water's surface didn't kill him, his intoxication would cause him to drown. She didn't want to kill him. She could never live with herself if she did.

She stopped screaming and tried a different approach.

"Val?" She said, barely above a whisper. It was enough to break the trance. He twitched, then turned, still standing on the railing but twisted enough to look behind him. When he saw her, she gasped. This wasn't the Val she knew. The happy, hardworking, honest guy who put his heart and soul into everything he did.

There was no sparkle left in his eyes. It had been dying for a while now but tonight it was dead.

"I told you not to come." He said, in the most even tone possible. "I told you not to worry about me."

"Babe-"

"You can leave now. There's nothing to see here. Get back in the car and leave. Be sure to tell the dancers I won't be coming in tomorrow."

"Val."

"Leave."

"No."

"I said leave."

"I don't take orders from you."

"Fine, then do whatever the fuck you want." He turned back to the water.

Part of her wanted to leave. Part of her wanted to erase everything from her mind and go back to the tour bus and convince herself that everything was a dream and that Val was actually asleep right now. That he was lying about a bit haphazardly, covers thrown off as they always were whenever she happened to see him asleep. If she just left now, it would all turn out for the best, wouldn't it? Everything would be okay. Val would come to his senses and return and they would dance the opening tomorrow and the crowd would cheer as soon as they stepped foot on stage. And she would clap the beats wrong to the one song as she always did. And everyone would give her shit about it afterwards. And Laurie would be her normal bubbly self backstage. And Val would be his normal happy, creative self and everything would be fine.

But Sharna was no longer a child. She'd long given up on fairy tales of any kind. Sometimes darkness did win. She couldn't let it win right now.

"Val." She said, in the strongest voice she could muster up in that moment. "Get down from the railing."

"No." He was going to refuse her forever. She was sure of it.

She tried again. "Babe this isn't the right way to go."

"I don't care anymore if it's the right way to go. I've made up my mind."

"What about your family?" If he thought of his family, surely, surely he would reconsider? He loved them too much for this.

"They'll rebuild. Maks and Peta are having a baby. I'm sure that will keep them preoccupied."

"What about your friends?"

"They'll be fine. They deserve a better friend anyways."

"What about Laurie?"

"Do we really need to go over every person in my life?" His voice choked a little at this but he covered it well. His body didn't move. "I've failed her once. I don't think it matters if I fail her again."

"What about me?"

He didn't look up from the waves. The river flowed lazily east, towards the ocean. Even in the moonlight, she would see that the waves were minimal, that the posed little harm to those in it. Unless he jumped. Unless he drowned. 

"Sharna, you were my friend." He looked up briefly from the waves, still facing away from her, still facing east. After a pause, he continued. "You deserve a better friend."

"How do you think I'll survive knowing I watched you die?" He wouldn't do that to her, would he?

"I'll wait 'til you leave." Of course he would. Always the gentleman. But she couldn't let him go.

"I'm not leaving." She said in an even voice, clasping her hands together to assure herself that everything was okay, that everything was going to be okay. That any second now Val was going to step back off the railing and land on the sidewalk and hug her.

Instead, he kept talking. "Well then I'm sorry for what you're about to see, but that's your fault."

He was going to jump. So she jumped too.