Amy vd Merwe

Grade 10
Curro Bankenveld
Short story
Twice I would die for a little more once with you

20 March 2021
7:00 pm
All I could see was red, white and blue lights as I pass a scene of an accident in
Cornelia Street, still wondering why Jessy didn’t pick up her phone. She was
supposed to be at my apartment over an hour ago and her phone keeps going
straight to voicemail. As I roam the streets again and eventually pull up to my
driveway the phone starts ringing…hoping it was Jessy that finally decided to
call back, but to my great disappointment it was an unknown number.
Hesitantly I picked up and the lady on the other line spoke:” Is this Mr. Lahey
I’m speaking to?” “Yes it is, who am I speaking to?” “Sir, you are speaking to
the Grey Banks Hospital I’m very sorry but your girlfriend has been in a tragic
car accident and is in critical condition, we don’t.... after that sentence my
whole body became cold, my phone slipped out my hand and I started to tear
up. I didn’t even hear what the lady said next. I was in complete and utter
disbelieve. Know I know why she didn’t respond to my messages or calls. I
didn’t even think twice, I started my car engine and off I went. I was so focused
to be with my Jessy that I didn’t realise I was going over the speed limit. Who
cares anyway, wouldn’t you rush to be with your loved one when they were
hurt?

Within fifteen minutes I reached the hospital, I ran straight into the front
reception asking where Jessy Mayson was. They told me room 101 and I ran to
there. When I went in I couldn’t comprehend what I saw in front of me. There
she was laying still with a soft yet loud heart monitor beeping, checking her
pulse and heart rate. I burst out in tears seeing the love of my life in this
condition. I sat next to her and took her hand and placed it in mine. Memories
of us having the time of our lives began flashing before me, times where we
didn’t have a care in the world, times where time stood still when I was with
her. Suddenly I was ripped out of my flashback when I heard an alarm go off
and several nurses came rushing into the room. I abruptly stood up to see
what was going on and to my shock I saw that Jessy’s heart was going into
cardiac arrest. They were doing everything you could possibly think to get her
heart starting again. Then, everything went soft, all I could hear is the sound of
the heart monitor beeping, but not the normal beep, the beep that alerts you
if someone’s heart stopped and the scary fact is I still had a little hope left in
me. But all that faded away when I heard:” Time of death, 21:43.” After that
sentence my whole world came crashing down, I couldn’t register what has
happened. I just lost the love of my life, my purpose in life was gone and all
because some stupid idiot skipped a red light. That night I promised myself
that no one could replace Jessy, even if I healed and ready to move on, I
couldn’t do that to her. She was my forever and she’ll stay my forever, even
when it means I’m alone for the rest of my life, I don’t care I will ALWAYS love
her.

(Present time: 20 March 2023)

Today it is 3 whole years without her. 3 years ago the love of my life passed
away and left a void in my chest that no one could possibly fill. That night I
made a promise to her and to myself that no one would replace the roll she
had in my life quite because no one could live up to her standards and I think I
couldn’t love anyone that much as I loved her.
I was busy walking my normal route to the coffee shop that has just opened on
the corner of my block. Everyone is raving over this coffee shop so out of
curiosity I had to go and check it out. As I was walking down the street I could
hear the mumble of voices from the coffee shop and the smell of coffee
entering my nostrils. As I walk into the door I can see that the whole shop was
buzzing with people, I stood in line and waited for my turn to occur when
suddenly I got this abnormal feeling about the coffee shop. Not knowing what
to do with this new feeling, I ordered my coffee and went on with my day.

(Time skip to 3 April 2023)

Of course the new coffee shop became famous in less than 2 weeks and in less
than 1 week became everyone’s favourite spot on the block including mine! As
I was walking down the sidewalk of the road to the shop I got that abnormal
feeling in my stomach again! “What is going on?” I asked myself. It’s each time
when I get close to the coffee shop that this strange feeling occurs and I have
no clue what to do about it or what the source of this feeling can be.
I walked into the front door of the shop and smelled an aroma I knew too well.
I was on my way to wait in line when I accidentally bumped into someone
causing their coffee to spill all over me. I was furious, like hello! You have eyes
for a reason, USE THEM!!! I was about to confront this person but then I saw…
Brown eyes deeper than the sea, warmer than a blazing fire and sweeter than
chocolate met my icy blue eyes. I swear if I looked a second more in those
endless brown eyes. I would’ve got lost in them. I quickly rested my eyes on
something else otherwise the woman would get suspicious. “I’m very sorry
about that, I can be a clouts sometimes. I’m Allison by the way!” “No worries, I
can also be clumsy sometimes, I mean have you ever ran into a door twice?”, I
joked just to reduce this uncomfortable atmosphere we are in. “Sorry, I forgot
to introduce myself, I’m Isaac Layhey”, saying confident and holding out my
hand for her to shake with she gladly did. We were so lost in this conversation
that she completely forgot about the spilled coffee on the floor. We greeted
each other rather hastily and went on with our day. That night I couldn’t get
Allison out of my head even if I tried to. I shouldn’t be thinking about another
woman I made a promise… and with that I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.

(4TH of April 2023: The next day)

That next day I went to go buy my daily coffee at the shop when I saw a
familiar face of Allison. I waved her over and we greeted each other friendly.
We got coffee and sat together, chatted and got to know each other better,
but what both of these broken souls don’t know is that this encounter will lead
to so much more than a friendly acquaintance.

(Flashback to 20 March 2022)

(Allison’s POV)
It was a night like non other, except it was the last day my boyfriend would see
the beauty of this world, all the sunsets and sunrises we spent together would
be gone today. 3 years ago in September Nathan got diagnosed with a cancer
called Mesothelioma. The doctor told us that he only got 18 months from now
to live and that this cancer is incurable. This came as a shock for me, Nathan
was the fittest person I know and he takes his health very seriously. We went
through every chemo trail and test as possible but nothing ensured Nathan a
100 percent chance of living his full life. We struggled on with this for about 2
years and it was heart wrenching to watch him suffer like he did. On the night
of 20 March 2022 Nathan had a severe asthma attack and couldn’t breathe. I
rushed him to the hospital and there they emitted him and told me there’s
nothing they could do for him. The cancer had already reached stage 4 which is
terminal. He will die, I thought. There is nothing more I could do to save him. It
tears me into pieces to know that my one and only, my lifeline would take his
last breath any minute. After an hour or so I heard THE alarm. I didn’t bother
to scream or try to save him, I knew it was time but it was too soon I thought.
That night I made a promise to him that I would cherish him forever and not let
anyone take his place no matter what, because that’s how much I loved him
and still do.

(Present time: 4th of April 2023)

(Allison’s POV)
That promise I made to Nathan was one of my dying promises to him until I
saw him… His icy blue eyes that looks like endless pools of water that you can
get lost in if you stare into them for a long period of time. His eyes looked like
sapphires staring into my chocolate brown eyes. Our paths crossed again today
and we grabbed a coffee and got to know each other better. Hopefully we can
be good friends, because I’m not letting this man off the hook this easily.

(Time skip to 25th of April)

(Isaac’s POV)
Me and Allison spent a lot of time together and got quite close these last 3
weeks. We saw each other almost every day at the coffee shop and each day
we talked about our day and after we drank our coffee we went on with our
day. Today was the first day that I went to the shop in the late afternoons,
normally I would go before I went to work, but I just had a feeling I had to go at
this specific time. Once I got to the coffee shop, I was stunned to see it almost
naked with the minimum amount of people you could possibly find. I never
saw the shop so empty. I walked into the shop and immediately my eyes
searched for one person… Allison. I saw her sitting at a table in the back corner
of the shop. I went over to her, greeted her and asked her if I could sit with her
which she gladly agreed on. She was not well, I could tell by the way she
looked and trying to fake smile that she wasn’t feeling well. She couldn’t fool
me with this fake smiling. I know her real smile all too well too fall for that
trick. I questioned her and she responded with:” We need to talk Isaac”. Those
words that came out her mouth sent chills down my spine and I feared what
she was about to say next. Then came it…
(Allison POV)
Here we go… Isaac we’ve known each other for more than a month now but I
feel like I’ve known you forever. That time a bumped into you I knew we would
become friends but I never expected that I would fall for you. Even though we
would only see each other at the shop I feel like we connected in a weird way
that makes it seem like we know everything about each other. We both lost
the love of our lives on the same day even! I hurts thinking I broke my dying
promise to Nathan an I thought I would never come across a same man that
lived up to his expectations, but here we are. I’m sitting in front of him!
(Isaac POV)
“…but I never expected to fall for you.” She lost me after she said this
sentence, I couldn’t possibly think that she felt the same way. And here I
thought I was a complete imbecilic for breaking my promise to Jessy, but I
knew she would want me to be happy. I didn’t waste any time when she was
done talking. I pulled her in and kissed her softly and said, “I’m glad we’re on
the same page.” Then kissed her again and this time she kissed back. Fireworks
exploding each time our lips met and I knew I would forever feel those
fireworks with Jessy…
(3rd Person POV)
Both Nathan and Jessy are smiling from above knowing that their soulmates
finally found happiness with one another. Happy that the pain of losing a loved
one that was dear to them hold them back from living their best life and not
wasting an opportunity to find your feet again.
(Allison POV)
Thank you Nathan, I love you!
(Isaac POV)
Thank you Jessy, I love you!