Amnesia • hemmings

2.4

Liz got a call at 4:53 am.

"Hello?" She lazily mumbled.

"Hello, is this Liz Hemmings? Mother of Luke Hemmings?" The voice on the other end of the line spoke calmly.

Liz began to worry, knowing of her son's depression, and his other problems. "Um, uh, yes, this is her. Is everything alright?" She got out of bed, putting on her robe as she quietly walked out of her room, to her son's.

"This is the hospital, we need you to come here immediately." The voice said.

Vivian was in Luke's room, alone in bed with one of his shirts on.

"Okay, I'll be there right away." Liz said, hanging up the phone. The conversation soon sunk into her mind, and she fell to the floor in Luke's room, crying.

Vivian stirred in bed, then sat up slowly, confused as to why the bed was empty besides her presence. Then, she slowly turned around, to see Liz crying.

She shot up. "Liz! Are you alright? Is everything okay? Where's Luke?" She asked.

"I-I don't k-know." Liz cried, and Vivian hugged her tightly. Then she noticed the letter on the desk.

"Liz, wait." She stood up, walking to the desk, finding the open letter and the box with the ring. She turned around and read it to herself, the letter in one hand, the box in the other. Her eyes started to water as she read, and when she was finished, the paper and the box fell to the floor, her shaking hands dropping them as she sobbed, and she soon fell, too. Liz picked the letter up and read it, then walked into her room, looking for another letter like Vivian's. When she found the letter and the box, she didn't read it until she got back into Luke's room, where she could comfort Vivian.

"I got one too." She said, her voice barely above a whisper, as Vivian cried loudly.

She read hers, then immediately fell next to Vivian, and they hugged as they sobbed.

"We have to go to the hospital, they called me earlier." Liz said quietly as she still cried.

+

Luke's funeral was two weeks later.

Surprisingly, his sister and dad came, and they both cried, even though they hadn't seen him since he was 12.

Vivian and Liz spoke, but neither of them could get all the way through without crying. The only jewelry Vivian wore were the earrings Luke had given her on their one month anniversary, and the ring he left for her.

"I met Luke at school, when we were alone in the cafeteria. I saw him and knew there was something about him, I knew he wasn't perfectly happy. I made him sort of like a project, I wanted to see what I could do to help him. But, it definitely wasn't that. It quickly turned into something way more, something deeper than just a project. We connected quickly, and it was just, almost perfect, from there. I would really want to tell the whole story, but it should stay between us, because, how many of you actually want to hear another love story? Aren't there enough of those in books and movies?"

She stopped, crying. She quickly wiped her eyes. "The truth is, I honestly did want to spend the rest of my life with Luke, even if his depression still lingered when we were 89 years old, with kids and grandkids and great grandkids. I don't know if he felt the same way, and now I'll never know, but he did get to spend the rest of his life with me, and that makes me pretty happy." She was still crying, but she wanted to finish. "Luke told me, in this note," she pulled out the note, "he said, 'You literally saved my life. I would've died, a long time ago, if it weren't for you.'"

She stopped, staring at the letter as she covered her mouth, crying. "He told me I'm the best thing that's ever happened to him. And that's what really gets to me. Nobody in my whole entire life has ever told me anything like that. And he did. He was the best thing to ever happen to me. Who would've ever thought, the 'popular' girl, and the depressed boy, becoming something nobody expected. Our story is one that nobody really wanted, but one that everyone knew of. It definitely changed a few people, and that's not bad." She stopped, crying still. "And I know, that even if I get married to someone else, and have kids and grandkids and great grandkids, I will still think of Luke, every day. I will still love him, for the rest of my life, because there was no one I would rather be with. That is a fact."

+

oh my god that was the last chapter

so, i guess i'll upload the epilogue soon