Angry Night
Elyssa
let out an ear-piercing shriek as her body flew away from the safety of the
roof. I reached out and tried to grab a hold of any of her. I
wasn’t going to let my best friend die, damn it. I wasn’t!
Miraculously my flailing hands connected with something. The force of her
fall nearly sent me over the edge too. I screeched in agony as my body
hit the hard surface of the roof. My arms were nearly wrenched out of
their sockets trying to keep a hold of her.
“Anita,
help me!” Elyssa screamed her body dangling in mid air.
I
could see the utter terror in her face. She had realized what she had
almost done.
“Oh
God, Anita! Don’t let go! Don’t let me fall, please!” she wailed almost
helpless.
I
had managed to grab one of her arms. I tried to pull her up but I
couldn’t. I simply wasn’t strong enough and I could feel my grip
slipping. We were all wet from the persistent down pour. My hands
slipped up and down her wet skin.
“Elyssa,
you have to help me. Try and grab the edge with your free hand.
Then as I pull you up try to sort of climb the wall,” I hoped my instructions
were clear.
With
all the strength I had in me I pulled up and with Elyssa’s
help we succeeded. Soon she was over the edge and safe on the roof with
me.
“Anita,
I can never thank you enough. You saved my life,” Elyssa sputtered
through her tears or maybe it was just the rain, it was hard to tell.
“I
couldn’t lose my best friend now could I?” I replied relieved beyond belief.
“I
don’t know what happened. I just lost it. I mean I’m terrified of
heights. I couldn’t even think.”
“You
don’t have to explain,” I cut her off. “I understand.”
“Can
we please not tell anyone,” Elyssa pleaded.
I
knew how ashamed she felt.
“It’ll
be our secret.”
We
immediately went back into the building and out of the rain but it wasn’t
another 15 minutes until we ventured back into the waiting room. Elyssa
had for the most part composed herself. She was strong willed. But
a person could only take so much. By that point Kevin and Michaela had
already visited Brian, so I let Elyssa go in first. It seemed that Mr.
and Mrs. Littrell had already gone back to their hotel. Kevin wasn’t in
the waiting room so I went and found him in what the medical staff likes to
call the “coffee room.” It was just a small room with three couches that
was always stocked with coffee and donuts. Just a place the doctors and
nurses could go and relax for a couple of minutes during breaks.
Kevin
was sitting alone on the far couch staring into a swirling cup of black liquid.
“Hey
Kev,” I said sitting down beside him.
“How’s
Elyssa?” he asked not looking up from the cup.
“She’ll
be all right eventually, but it will take a long time to heal.”
“How
are you holding up?” he asked turning his attention away from the coffee.
I
could see the pain in those beautiful green eyes. He was holding so much
in.
“You’re
such a beautiful person,” I said shaking my head. “Do you ever worry
about yourself?”
“I
. . .” he stuttered for a moment. “I just want to make sure that all of you are
okay. I mean I’ve dealt with this kind of thing before. But you
guys with the kidnapping and Rick and everything. But Brian . . .” he
trailed off his eyes glazing over.
I
had never cared for him more than that moment. I hugged him so
tight. I whispered softly in his ear.
“Kevin,”
I started, “I once read somewhere that it’s okay to cry.”
I
felt a teardrop hit my bare shoulder. I held him while he let go all of
the emotions he had been bottling up over the past weeks. It was amazing
how quickly our roles had been reversed. Just yesterday it had been he
who was comforting me while I cried my heart out. After awhile he pulled
away. His arms still resting on my shoulders.
“Anita,”
he said gently. “Behind that sarcastic attitude of yours you are one of the
most beautiful people I know.”
I
felt my heart ache, all the pain seemed to melt away for a moment. I was
almost mesmerized by his gorgeous green eyes. They seemed to stare
straight into my soul.
“Kevin
I . . .” but the rest of my words were never said as our lips melted together
in a kiss. But the tenderness of the moment soon faded and panic surged
through my body. I pulled away and sprang away from Kevin.
“Oh
my God Anita, I’m so sorry,” he said looking equally panicked.
“No
. . . I . . . I think I should go,” I mumbled and half stumbled out of the
room.
I
grabbed my jacket and bee-lined directly to the elevator.
“Anita,
where are you going?” Michaela called out to me.
“Home.
I’ll walk,” I answered and got into the elevator.
I
half walked half ran all the way home. The rain had me thoroughly soaked
but I didn’t care. I couldn’t understand what had just happened.
How could I kiss Kevin when my heart was still with A.J.? It didn’t make
any sense. I was so confused it was beyond words. Before that
moment I hadn’t even thought of Kevin in that way. He was just a good
friend, that’s all. Right now I didn’t want anything more. It was
too soon, way too soon.
I
spent the next week avoiding Kevin and hoping A.J., wherever he was, wasn’t
thinking any less of me. The week came and went and I had to go into the
hospital for a checkup to make sure all of my systems were still functioning
properly. It was fairly early in the morning, but from the looks of
things you’d almost swear it was midnight. The clouds were black and rain
was hammering the earth. I dashed into the hospital happy that I’d been
able to dig up my raincoat.
The
doctor took me in right away and my checkup was done and over with in less than
half an hour. According to him almost everything was back in working
order. I still had to take it easy, but I was going to be okay.
When I entered the front lobby I wasn’t surprised to see Elyssa, Howie, Nick
and Kevin there. They had gone to see Brian every day that week.
Michaela would have been there too but she had to fly back to Toronto due to
some emergency at work. They appeared to be arguing with the nurse.
“What’s
up?” I asked Elyssa when the argument seemed to be over.
“They
won’t let us see Brian,” she replied fuming.
“Well,
visiting hours don’t start for over an hour,” I supplied consulting my watch.
“We
know that,” Elyssa said exasperated. “But today is the day they are,
well, you know. And if we don’t see him now we’ll never see him again.”
She
looked at me with pleading eyes. As if I had some way out of this
mess. Then it came to me.
“I
just may be able to sneak you in. Follow me.”
Without
hesitation or question they did. They all wanted desperately to see their
dear friend one last time and frankly so did I. As we walked down a
fairly deserted hall I explained to them.
“There’s
a service elevator at the back that’s hardly ever used anymore. If you
take this elevator you won’t have to go by the nurses desk on the ICU
floor. Just try and look like you belong there and be quick.”
We
all piled into the huge elevator.
“Thanks
Anita,” Elyssa said to me.
“Don’t
thank me yet,” I replied.
Suddenly
I felt the elevator jerk under my feet throwing us all to the floor.
“What
the fuck?” Nick said voicing all of our thoughts.
It
jerked again and then totally stopped. The lights flickered and then
slowly went out. We were engulfed in blackness in a stalled elevator.
***
