The gentle mix of words and voices was a comforting blanket in the bitter September air. Everyone was with a friend, and each friend had three to go around, and silence was unwanted. There stood Peter, talking to two of his friends, and Catie was beside him, with a friend of her own. It was of mutual knowledge that Peter and Catie were together, but they never talked about it and no one said anything, but they knew. It was a sort of thing that they'd smile about in private when Catie was seen speaking to Peter, and later tease her about.
It was a simple, cliche, predictable night. We will watch Catie, for she was a pretty girl and had a quick tongue. She spoke contentedly to a friend, her bright eyes dancing back and forth between said friend and Peter.
Her eyes darted to somewhere off behind her friend, and widened momentarily. Suddenly she spun around and faced Peter. He looked at her, with a mild amount of surprise on his face. She put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him on the mouth.
He looked stunned; she slid her hands from his shoulders and grasped his hands. "I love you," she said, her voice catching strangely. "I love you, Peter. I love you. I love you."
"Catie, what--"
A loud and sharp noise shatters the atmosphere, and Catie's body shudders violently. Peter catches her, her back already warm and crimson, and some unnamed person screams. Catie is still mumbling into Peter's chest, her lips leaving bloody traces as her life seeps from her mouth.
"I love... I love you... you..."
***
The hospital is stark and white, and seems to be in a constant state of calm shock. We will move to Catie's room, where she is laying on a bed, her eyes closed and her face as pale as the walls around her. Peter is by her side, for he has not left since they arrived. It is a day and a half later, and there is no hope for the girl.
"Why, Catie?" Peter asks, his voice unmanfully shaking with a controlled sob. "Why?"
She smiles weakly. "He needed me, Peter. God said it's time to go."
No comments:
Post a Comment