In a heartbeat ✔️

I

Daniel glanced around, eyes scrutinizing the perfect green carpet of grass. Birds sang in the distance. It seemed nice. It was almost possible to forget he stood in a graveyard.

He glared at the ground. In front of his feet, the recently moved field looked brown and uneven. Grass would grow there soon. Life would flourish from death. But not yet. At that moment, that piece of land was only a grave, freshly dug. A hole that had swallowed one of his best friends... forever.

The thought of how definitive the situation was, made his breath fail for a second. That was the thing about death, it was definite. Life existed as a sea of opportunities. Death was still.

Out of instinct, Daniel's hand moved to his chest. Through the fabric of his grey shirt, he could feel his heart beating a steady pace. There was movement; therefore, there was life.

Thump, Thump, Thump, he closed his eyes, concentrating on the rhythm. Yet inside of his head, all could hear was beep, beep, beep.

His shoulders jerked backward at the touch of a hand on his back.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Daniel turned his torso in a half-circle to face Tony. "That's ok," he said, touching his friend's arms in a comforting way. Their eyes didn't meet. Tony observed the brown patch surrounded by green at their feet, and Daniel wondered if he was having the same thoughts he was experiencing before.

"How is she?" Tony sighed, his hand moving to his neck, fingers fidgeting with his black tie.

Beep, Beep, Beep...

"Alive," Daniel answered, his voice quivered.

Tony's eyes finally moved up to meet Daniel's. Both men took in each other features, seeing the reflection of pain and tiredness.

"She is strong." Tony gave his friend an encouraging nod, regretting that was all he could offer.

They stayed near Jonathan's grave for a little while longer. No words were spoken, but they knew it would be the last time the three of them would be together. The three musketeers; brothers from the soul.

"I have to go back," Daniel finally said, his heart contracting painfully under his ribcage. He silent said a last goodbye, that was also a request of forgiveness, before turning his back and rush to the hospital.

He didn't like to leave Samantha alone. The prospect of being separated from her made him sick, but he had to go say goodbye to Jonathan. He should be in his place, under the ground, after all. If Daniel had been able to pick up his own fiancée from the airport, Jonathan wouldn't have volunteered to do it for him, and he would be alive; Samantha would be awake, laughing next to him. He would be inebriated in her sweet scent. It was his oxygen since the very first time he met her. Has he ever told her that? No, he didn't think he ever did. He told her he loved her every day for the past two years. It was not enough. Every day for two years meant seven hundred and thirty "I love you." That was nothing.

He entered Samantha's room abruptly. The thump, thump of his heart, and the beep, beep of hers resonating through the machines, were mismatched. His was fast; her remained slow.

You should be prepared, the doctor's voice echoed inside his head.

But the doctor knew nothing. He could know the anatomy of the heart, understand its movements, but he didn't know about Daniel and Samantha's love. He had never seen the way her eyes sparkled at the sight of him; he didn't know that Daniel palms still sweat every time he was about to meet her. No. She would come back to him. Love recognizes no barriers, and their love was strong - the strongest.