Beating hearts

Chapter 14

Ara pulled up to the corner of Lexington and saw Lilly sitting on the side of the curb. She got out of her car and went and sat down by her.

"You okay little flower?"

Lilly shrugged her shoulders.

"I really liked him you know. But I guess he was just after one thing, and after a while of not giving it to him and saying No. He just got in a car with his friends and left me here," Lilly said looking down at the street.

Ara struggled to find the words to say to her.

"I'm proud of you. most girls your age wouldn't say no," Ara said to Lilly trying to make her feel better. But Lilly just continued to stare down at the pavement. "They will be lots of other guys, better guys," Ara continued.

"Please don't give me the, there's a lot of fish in the sea speech," Lilly exhaled. "First breakups suck."

Ara wrapped an arm around her. "I'm sorry...You know what might cheer you up?"

"What?" Lilly grumbled.

Ara stood up and reached her hand out to her.

"A movie night with your awesome sister."

She looked up and smiled taking Aras hand. "That actually would make me feel a lot better. There is a movie rental place a few stores down. I'll go get the movies, and you go into the store across the street and get some ice cream. I will meet you back at the car in 10,"

Ara smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me."

She turned around to head across the street. "Wait," Lilly said. Ara turned back around where She gave her a loving warm hug.

"Thanks. You're a great big sister."

"I know." Ara smiled dramatically flipping her hair behind her shoulder.

Lilly laughed and hurried down the street.

Ara took no more than 5 minutes getting Lilly's favorite mint chocolate chip Ice cream, then headed back to the car to wait for her. She put her sacks in the backseat and looked up the street to wear a crowd of loud people gathered. Curious she ran up to see what the fuss was about.

The sunny sky turned from blue to grey, Ara didn't know it yet, but her whole world had changed in those 5 minutes, she pushed her way through the crowd of people, the thoughts in her head flowed wild, but they did not expect the worst. The crowd was big, she couldn't get through to the front, but she was desperate to see what the chaos was about, and what the people had assembled to see.
She heard sirens in the distance and the cold wind carried a metallic smell to her nose.
She was almost to the front now, just a few people in front blocked her view, she stood on her tip toes trying to see over them, but still could not... She bent down and gazed through a small opening, where she finally got a tiny glimpse of what the crowd of people were gasping and murmuring about.

She saw an arm, a bloody arm stretched out hanging off the side of the curb.
A roaring fear and panic surged; she screamed a piercing scream as she looked at the victim's arm that had a very familiar scar on it.

She pushed the people standing in front of her out of the way and raced to the blonde girl lying on the sidewalk, she collapsed to her knees in a puddle of the girl's blood.

"LILLY!" She screamed.

She had complete horror in her eyes, as she looked down at her sister covered in thick, dark crimson blood.

Her hands were shaking as she put them to Lilly's face.

"No, no, n..Lilly! open your eyes. Lilly!?" She cried.

Lilly's blood gushed and poured from the fresh stab wounds on her stomach onto the concrete, it flowed upward staining her blonde hair, then continuously dripped down into the streets gutter.

"Please don't leave me," Ara said even though she knew she was already gone.

She began to cry hysterically now. The wind picked up Ara's hair causing it to stick to the tears on her face.

"You promised!" She screamed at her. "You promised me I would always have you, please dont break it. please. "

The paramedics had arrived and was heading toward the scene with their equipment.
Ara could feel her heartbeat in her ears, her fear was so strong she could feel it in her veins, she couldn't lose her sister, her best friend. Her whole world.

 
"I'm not getting a pulse," a paramedic said checking Lilly's bloody palm for a heartbeat.

They covered her wounds with gauze and tried to get the bleeding to stop, so they could get her stable enough to be put on the gurney.
Police officers pulled up and began backing people away from the scene while putting up their crime tape.

Ara moves some hair out of Lilly's face. "Come on little flower... don't leave me," she cried softly.

She imagined Lilly opening her eyes and coughing as she took in the cold air and started to breathe again. She imagined them riding together in the ambulance and telling Lilly, that everything was going to be okay. She imagined them at the hospital hugging after the doctor gave them the good news that she was all fixed up and going to be fine.

But there she still sat, in her sister's sticky blood, on the cold sidewalk.
She held Lilly's small boney hand as the paramedics try to get her heart to start beating again.

"Shes gone, let's get her to the hospital so they can call it," She heard one of the men say. She didn't understand what they were talking about though. She didn't understand anything.

The paramedics got up and put their equipment back in their bag. One of them went under the yellow crime tape and made a call to the coroner's office, while the other one went over to Ara.

"What was your relationship with the victim?" The man asked.
Ara had wide eyes and her hands were shaking uncontrollably.
"My, my sister, she's my sister," Ara stuttered.

"I'm very sorry I haft to tell you this, but your sister is dead. She died before we arrived here. There was nothing that could have been done."

Ara shook her head. She didn't understand what was happening. Lilly can't be dead; she was just talking to her and now she sees her here lying all bloody and pale with gruesome stab wounds on her stomach. She couldn't process it in her mind. She just kept standing there shaking her head staring at her body.

Ara completely freaked out when she saw the coroners bring over a body bag.

"No, you can't put her in there! She's not dead! She's not!" She exclaimed.

A couple officers had to hold Ara back, while the paramedics put Lilly in the dark cold bag and carried her to their truck. She was hysterical and had to be put in the back of the police car.

Life's a crazy thing. Everything can change in a split second. A normal day can change into the worst day of your life. Things can be good, you can let yourself be happy, all for life to sucker-punch you and kick you down. The worst part is you have no control over it.

As the cops drove her to the hospital where Lilly's body is being taken. Ara sunk back into her tunnel of darkness, so familiar and quiet.
It felt like she was being drowned inside. She wished that this was a nightmare, she would give anything for it just to be a nightmare, for her to wake up in the morning and see Lilly in her hello kitty slippers creeping into her room for one of their morning chats, her old ugly bear tucked under her arms. But that could never happen again.
This was a nightmare, just not the kind you dream.
It was real. Lilly was dead.
Her sister was dead.