Heaven Can Wait

And There He Was

Time can't heal a broken heart. But, it can break a waiting heart.

For the past thirteen hours, my eyes have been glued to the tv screen, waiting on news of
him. Waiting on something. Someone to tell me anything. Always waiting.

I refused to think about my current predicament. How could I when this all felt so real? And if I could save him in this time/world/alternate universe, then I didn't want to go back.

"No word yet on that status of pop star, Michael Jackson. Sources say a random call alerted paramedics of his condition. "How"  this individual new remains a controversial subject. Whoever you are, I'm sure the Jackson Family is very grateful." The blonde reporter said all of this, staring directly into the camera, as if to tease me. "I will--."

The tv shut off abruptly. I turned around from my position on the couch and glared at my sister, who I knew had turned it off. Charlie stood behind the couch, waving the remote in the air, almost daring me to choke the life out of her.

"Charlie, please give me the remote." I hissed through clinched teeth.

She pursed her lips to the side. "Moping around the house like this is not helping."

"I'm not moping!" I grunted.

"Why do you care about that weirdo so much, anyway? You don't even know him."

I reached up and snatched the remote out her hand, smiling inwardly as she flinched. "First of all, he's not a weirdo. Don't say that again." I pressed the power button on the remote, sighing as I saw the weather report pop up.

I didn't give a fuck about weather! Tell me if he's alive, goddamit!

Charlie plopped down on the couch next to me. "Mom's working late today. So, you have to make dinner."

I snorted. "Order a pizza."

She fixed her eyes on the tv screen. "What are you going to do if he dies? Like..."

My heart sped up at her words. "He won't. He's going to be fine."

"No. Seriously." She pressed.

I fixed a steely gaze upon her. "Die. I would lay down and die--I can't go through that again."

Charlie smirked. "You say it like you've already gone through it. The only thing that ever died was your goldfish, Nemo."

For a brief second, I had forgotten about my current predicament. No one could know or they would think I was crazy. Thinking fast, I covered my own mistake. "Yeah, and when Nemo died, I was devastated wasn't I?"

"You were eight!" She laughed.

I smiled at her. "Doesn't change the fact that it nearly killed me."

"You killed that fish. Anyways, I'm about to order some pizza." She said, pointedly, reaching for the house phone and presumably getting ready to dial the number to Pizza Hut.

In my defense, I didn't kill that fish. I forgot to feed it a couple of times and it died. Then again, who springs that much responsibility on an eight year old? My mother never bought me another pet. How I had begged her for an Alaskan Malamute over the years!

A shrill ringing brought me out of my thoughts. Charlie glanced at the caller id on the phone, frowned and showed me the number. It was an 818 number. Having lived in Los Angeles my entire life, the only area codes I knew were 310 and 323.
I shrugged my shoulders noncommittally. She was free to answer or ignore as she pleased. On the fourth ring,she pressed talk and held the phone to her ear. She reached for the remote, muting the tv so if I strained hard enough, I could hear both sides of the conversation. The voice on the other end, however, was extremely soft and slightly muffled.