Guts

We had all graduated. Maria with honors and top of the class and the rest of us just passed. We got to play at graduation and then we all celebrated at my house. My family from England came to watch, Jacks mom and siblings came, with his new niece. Maria and Zack’s family came and so did Rian’s. We set up outside and held a huge concert for everyone to come to. It was great.

The next day we started packing for tour and preparing for a wedding. They were getting married four days before we left for tour. That left us two days to prep. They wanted to have a mini honeymoon so they would be getting married and then fly to Yorktown, Virginia. They were going to rough it out in the woods, then fly back and we would leave for tour.
Zach, Matt, Rian, and I had a bachelor party planned for Jack. It wasn’t much. None of us drank at the time so it was pretty much games and food. Maria’s friends had something planned for her. The day before the wedding came and it was damn near impossible to separate them.
We finally got them to separate and we headed into the house. We still had some packing to do, so we turned up the music at full blast and packed what was left. While we were doing that, Matt was cooking up a feast for us. Rian showed up and helped us finish. After a little bit we were done and headed to eat. Once that was done, we set up the PS2 and kicked each other’s asses.

Finally at about 3 am Matt kicked us all off the game and sent us to the rooms to get some sleep, Jack was getting married in a few hours after all. I gave Rian my room and Matt took the couch while I bunked with Jack. We headed to his room and lay in bed staring at the ceiling. He could tell he was nervous because he couldn’t stop moving. Finally he rolled over and faced me, telling me that he was scared that he wasn’t good enough for her. He thought that she could do so much better and that she was making a mistake.

I laughed, I remember telling him that she had stuck around this long with his crazy ass, then she was staying. That calmed him down some. I mean that’s what his best man was for right? To help. We drifted off around 4 and when I woke up, Jack was cuddling me. I laughed and pushed him off the bed. He looked up stunned then realized it was me, not Maria. We all got up and around. Matt cooked again, we ate then we had to head to the church, we had to wait until after Maria got there because Jack couldn’t see her.

We sent Rian to go see if it was safe.


Now this next part I write with great sorrow and a heavy hand. Forgive me if my tears stain the page. This day is forever etched into my brain.


Before Rian could make it back, there was a knock on the door. An officer stood there asking for Jack Barakat. He ran to the door and before I could get there he fell to the ground. Zack punched a hole straight through the wall. The officer looked at us with sorrow in his eyes and told us he was so sorry.

I couldn’t believe it. Everything was moving in slow motion. I couldn’t hear anything, and everything looked like a blur.

Next come Zack and Maria’s parents, then Jack’s, mine, and lastly came Rian, all in a cop car. They somehow managed to usher us into the cars and to the hospital. No one could speak, I couldn’t even hear. I looked to Jack and he was pulling out his hair while Zack had to be cuffed because he was trying to hit anything and anyone in range of his arms. We made it to the hospital and were told only two could go in at a time.

Maria’s parents were the first. Zack had to be sedated because he managed to tackle a dr while cuffed. My parents were trying to keep everyone calm. I just felt so numb. Jack was staring at nothing and when he anyone talked to him, he didn’t even hear it. He was an empty shell.
Finally they let Jack and I into the room. We both walked in, unsure of the scene that lie ahead of us. We saw her, just lying there, motionless. Hooked up to so many iv’s and pale as a sheet. Jack didn’t even make it to the bed before he collapsed. I walked up to him and helped him to the bed side and sat him in the chair. He just kept asking ‘why’ over and over, that was all he could say.

I couldn’t say anything. I approached the bed and grabbed her hand. It was so cold and white.
How could this happen? She was only 18 and on her way to her wedding. She was just fine the day before. This just had to be a bad dream right? I mean who gets hit by a guy running a red light, on her wedding day.


Just a bad dream.



Right?

Notes

So I wrote this and started tearing up.
I had this planned from the start, but that doesn't make it easy.
I'm sorry.

I love you <3