Remains

White Flowers

Caleb's POV
We reach the hospital and ask to see Hannah.
They say that she is still not in a stable condition.
So we sit. And wait.
"Excuse me, are you Caleb?" I look up to see a doctor peering down at me.
"Yes, yes I am. Is she okay?" I ask.
He didn't look happy. "I'm afraid that there is severe concussion to her brain. Whoever punched her has shattered her frontal bone. We are trying our best, but she does not have a good chance."
"C-Can I see her?"
The doctor shakes his head. "She's not stable enough to visit."
As he walks away, Emily holds my hand as I cry. "What if she doesn't get better?"
"It will Cay, it will."
——><——
Hannah's POV
I'm in a field.
Beautiful white flowers surround me as I open my eyes.
I reach down to cup one in my hand when I hear an achingly familiar voice. "Hannah?"
I look up and she's there. Her hair flowing delicately over her shoulders.
White dress and bare feet; she looks healthy.
Except one thing.
Her eyes. Sarah's eyes are purple.
They look at me with a gentle expression, and I find myself missing her brown ones.
"Are you just going to stare?" She asks, amused.
"Um, no. Not that this isn't a really cool field but where are we?" I ask.
"This is the Field of Loss," she says, gesturing to the field.
"Why am I here?"
She smiles sadly. "Your dying, Hannah."
I stare at her. "Dying? No. I can't leave Caleb!"
Sarah shakes her head sadly. "It's too late. The fracture in your brain pierced the wrong part of your brain."
"I won't get to say goodbye!" I cry, plopping down in the flowers.
"You will."
——><——
Caleb's POV
"I'm sorry, sir." The doctor says gravely.
I stare at him. "Can I see her before she..." I swallow.
He nods and guides me towards the room.
She's laying there, tubes running in and out of her body.
The heart monitor is beeping, counting down the seconds until Hannah's time runs out.
I reach over and grab her hand, finding it surprisingly warm. "Hey, Hannah."
She doesn't answer of course and I bow my eyes. "Listen, I don't know if you can hear me, but I love you okay? I wish we had more time before you left."
The heart monitor speeds up, causing me to jump.
Her heart is beating faster, as if thrashing in her rib cage.
"I love you too."
I look down and see Hannah's eyes half open, her eyes purple.
Purple?!
"Hannah? What's wrong with your eyes?"
She smiles a little. "You'll find out when it's time." She squeezes my hand. "Listen, I'm gonna die in a second. But you have to promise me something."
I nod. "Anything."
She looks deep in my eyes. "Find someone. Be happy. And.." she coughs. "Can you bury me next to Sarah?"
I nod. "Yes. I will," my eyes tear up.
She smiles sadly. "Visit me every once in a while, Caleb."
"I will. I promise." I nod.
Her eyes flicker, turning from purple to brown then back to purple, and she sucks in a breath. "It's time."
I grasp her hand, at a loss for words.
Hannah looks at me with with her flickering eyes. "I love you."
I sob out loud. "I love you too."
Leaning forwards, I kiss her, and the pillow sinks a little and she dies.
Her hand goes limp and I lean back and look into her dull eyes.
Then, it was as if the walls came crashing down. "No." I sob. "No, please. Take me instead..."
I lean my head against her chest and cry. "I'm so sorry." I whisper.
I let go of her hand, ready to go inform the doctor, when I notice something on her wrist that wasn't there before.
A tattoo.
Three words that make my heart clench.
I love you.