Again, the ringing stops and immediately starts. Taking a deep breath, I grab the phone and swipe across the screen, placing it to my ear. I don’t say anything, and I don’t have to.
“Tatum, oh God. I just heard. Where are you?” she asks, anguish in her voice. Leah and I have been best friends since kindergarten. She knows my parents well. Knew my parents well. Shit! They’re gone. I feel panic set in as I struggle to drag air into my lungs. “Is Josh with you?” she asks.
“No,” is all I can say at the moment, and that is a valiant effort. I feel like an elephant is sitting on my chest.
“Tell me where you are.” Her voice is now pleading.
“Home,” I croak out.
“Stay there, I’m on my way. I’ll call Josh.”
“No! Please don’t,” I beg her. I don’t want to be anywhere near him.
“Okay, just stay there. I’m about five minutes away,” she tells me.
I nod my head, even though she can’t see me, unable to form words. I hit end on my cell and drop it back into the cup holder. I try to focus on taking slow, deep, even breaths. I need to get myself under control.
My cell rings again. I peer down at the screen and see that it’s Josh. My chest aches from his betrayal. Josh cheated on my. My parents are gone. My entire life is crashing and burning. A sob escapes my lips as the doctors words continue to play through my mind. “They’re gone. Your parents didn’t survive. I’m so sorry.”
I jump at a gentle knock on my window, the sound a welcome one due to its creator. Leah. She is peering through the window watching me, tears rolling across her cheeks. I fumble with the door handle, trying to get out of the car. A task that minutes earlier seemed too daunting. Leah is here; I’m no longer alone. Seeing me struggle, she pulls open the door. I step out and she immediately engulfs me in a hug. I sag against her, letting go of the pain, as I sob into her shoulder.
Leah hugs me tighter. “I am so sorry, Tate,” she whispers through her own tears.
I’m not sure how long we stand there, but my best friend never wavers. She holds on tight and allows me to grieve the loss of my family, and the future I thought I was planning with Josh.
I pull away from her embrace, and without saying a word, she grabs my hand and slowly leads me to the front of the house. Instead of going to the door, she makes her way to the porch swing that is slighting swaying with the warm breeze. She takes a seat, and reluctantly, I sit beside her. My parents loved this swing.
As if she can read my thoughts, she says, “They would sit out here for hours. I remember in high school on warm summer nights, they would be here when we would get home at night. You always said it was to make sure we made curfew, but they just loved each other that much. They enjoyed being with each other.” She pauses to collect her thoughts. I don’t say anything, because she’s right. My parents were high school sweethearts; the love they shared was once in a lifetime. Will I ever have that? My mind flashes back to Josh and the blonde bimbo. I open my mouth to spill the horrid details, but Leah speaks first.
“It seems fitting that they were together. They were never far apart, and I’m not sure how one would have gone on without the other,” she says softly.
I let her words sink in. She’s right. My parents shared a bond, a love so deep that either one would have been devastated without the other. I know they loved me. I’m an only child as my mother had complications during my delivery and was unable to have more children. However, what they shared, it was if one was not complete without the other.
“I think you may be right,” I tell her.
She squeezes my hand in recognition. What would I do without her? Then it hits me that she’s moving. Leah and her fiancé Brent are moving to Murfreesboro, TN. Brent is a pediatrician. He just finished his residency at Nationwide Children’s Hospital here in Columbus. He accepted a private practice position in Tennessee. Leah is a registered nurse; she will be able to find work once they get there.
Sure they will only be seven hours away, but right now, they’re all that I have.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she tells me. “I’m only a phone call away. You can drive to me in a day, and a flight will get you there in a couple of hours. I will always be here for you,” she says, giving my hand another squeeze.
“The hospital called and said that I needed to come right away.” my voice is trembling. Taking a deep breath, I try to get myself under control before I continue. “I had no idea why, and they wouldn’t tell me on the phone. When I got there and asked for the nurse who called me, I was led into a private room. Once I heard the news, it was like I was living outside my body. I know the doctor was talking, but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. Josh popped into my head, and all I wanted to do was go to him. I wanted to feel his arms around me, and hear him tell me everything was going to be okay.”
I stop to take a breath. Leah offers me a small smile of encouragement. She has no idea the bomb I’m about to drop on her. “I knew he had class, but I just wanted to feel close to him. I decided to use the key he gave me a few weeks ago and let myself into his apartment. I’m not sure how I got there; the drive is a blur. I made it to his apartment and turned the handle; it was unlocked. Looking back now, that should have been the first clue, but my head was so jumbled that it just now dawned on me.”
I shake my head to clear the thought. “Anyway, I opened the door and found Josh with some blonde bimbo bent over the couch. I’ll spare you the remaining visual. Needless to say, I told him we were through. He tried to stop me, but his neighbor heard the yelling and stepped in. He blocked Josh while I got away.” I wipe my hands across my cheeks to remove the tears. It’s a wasted effort because they continue to flow. “I didn’t even get the chance to tell him about Mom and Dad.”
“F*ck him!” Leah spits venomously. “I never liked that jackass anyway. You wait until I see him again,” she seethes.
I smile through the tears, because this girl has had my back for years, and I hers. I love her; she is my sister of hearts. “I’m going to miss you,” I say.
“You can always come with us. The condo has three bedrooms and we would love to have you,” she replies. “Let’s get you through the next couple of days, and then we can talk more. You ready?” she asks, gesturing toward the door.
“Not really, but I can’t live on the front porch.” I stand up, as does Leah. I hug her tight. “Thank you for being here.” I release her and pull my keys out of my pocket. Time to face reality.
The blaring vocals of George Strait’s “Fireman” jolt me out of bed. I look at the clock on the night stand and it’s ten fifty-nine. Shit. I reach for my phone and swipe at the screen. “Hello,” I mumble.
“Blaise, you up?” I hear my brother chuckle on the other end of the line. He knows that I’m not, or that I wasn’t rather.
“Seriously, why are you calling?” I ask him, frustrated. I was out until three this morning at an auto accident. I was on call he knows this.
“Just making sure you’re up. Mom will so not be impressed if you miss Sunday dinner,” he replies.
Well, shit.
“Thanks, I’m up. Noon as usual?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.