Her Journey Begins (23 page)



   Brandon
’
s professor must have been long winded tonight, because Brandon hasn
’
t gotten here to help her close yet. Looking up at the clock Chris sees its 11:45 p.m. and there
’
s no way his professor could be talking that much. His class ended at 10:30 p.m. and normally it only takes him half an hour to get here. Even if he stayed after she would have thought he
’
d be here by now. Trying not to panic and wanting to keep busy, Chris starts stocking items on one of the shelves when two men enter the store. Looking up towards the counter Chris wonders where they went. Turning around she comes face to face with them. She jumps and puts her hand on her chest laughing,
“
I
’
m sorry, you scared me.
”
One of the men points a gun at her. Chris closes her eyes and tries to swallow the lump in her throat while trying not to cry. She puts her hands up in front of her and clenches and unclenches them softly before she opens her eyes.
“
What do you want?
”

The guy holding the gun tells her,
“
Just stay calm and you won
’
t get hurt, now we are going to walk up to the register
…”

Everything happened so fast and yet Chris watched it all play out in slow motion from the moment Brandon came rushing towards them.
“
Noooo
…
Chris Move!
”
Chris sees the flash of the gun as Brandon shoves his way in between them and feels the impact of Brandon slamming into her, knocking them both backwards. Losing her balance Chris falls against the shelves and hears the cans rattle on the shelf before they fall off and roll across the floor. The shelves tip with their weight and crash to the floor with Chris and Brandon landing on top of them. Chris looks down at the dime size hole in Brandon
’
s shirt and the spot of blood that begins to spread. Chris screams.
“
You shot Him!
”
As the gun blast echoes in her ears.

  
“
Oh shit! Man what did you do?
”

  
“
It just went off. I didn
’
t mean to shoot him. I
’
m sorry lady. I didn
’
t mean to shoot him!
”

The other guy is grabbing him by his jacket, pulling him towards the door.
“
Come on we got to get out of here! Come on!
”
Chris starts to cry as she wraps her arms protectively around Brandon.

The men run out of the store and Chris hears tires squealing, just as another customer walks in and sees her and Brandon.
“
Oh my God, are you okay?
”
                                                                                                                                        

He starts running towards them. Chris glances up at him and waves him off towards the counter.
“
Call an ambulance
…
. Please hurry!
”
Brandon is trying to tell her something. Sobbing, with tears running down her cheeks, Chris hushes him,
“
Shh
”
Looking towards the counter Chris cries out to the man,
“
Get something to stop the bleeding. Paper towels, napkins something!
”
Chris kisses Brandon on the forehead, trying to comfort him.
“
It
’
s going to be okay.
”

  
“
Chris
”

Chris hears a rattling noise as Brandon breathes in and out and once again she tells him,
“
Shh
”
Before yelling out to the man again.
“
Will you please hurry.
”

  
“
Chris, what time is it?
”
Looking up at the clock through her tears, Chris whispers 12:01 a.m.

   Brandon reaches up feebly, tugs on her hair and with a raspy whisper he tells her,
“
Good morning beautiful
”
Chris watches as Brandon sucks in another rattling breath before closing his eyes. Chris wraps her arms tighter around him, kisses his forehead and cries.
“
Don
’
t you die on me. Everything
’
s going to be okay.
”



Startled out of her dream Barb sits up. Her sudden movement

awakens Brad.

  
“
Barb honey, what
’
s wrong?
”

  
“
Sirens, do you hear the sirens?
”

  
“
Honey, Chris is fine. Brandon
’
s with her and if anything was wrong, they
’
d call. Now lay back down.
”

Brad pulls her down next to him and puts his arms around her. Rolling over onto her side Barb hears Brad
’
s breathing become deep and even and knows he
’
s gone back to sleep. She lays there listening for a few minutes longer before dozing off. Startled by the ringing phone, Barb sits bolt upright in bed and looks at the clock. It
’
s 1 a.m.



   Waking up Chris feels like she can
’
t breathe, like there
’
s a heavy weight on her chest. At first she can
’
t figure out where she is, she must have been having a bad dream and then it all comes flooding back to her.
She remembers hearing the sirens and the police officers and paramedics coming in. She remembers them trying to pry her arms from around Brandon and her screaming at them to help him when they were asking her if she was hurt. She also remembers the paramedic telling her he was sorry but there was nothing they could do Brandon was dead. She remembers them pulling Brandon off of her and laying him down on the floor so they could help her up and the cramping pains in her abdomen and the blood that came gushing out of her, running down her legs as she whispered to them
“
our baby
”
She remembers hearing Brent yelling,
“
What the hell happened?
”
She doesn
’
t know who he was yelling at, because they had her on a gurney in the ambulance by that time. They were putting an I.V. in her arm when she heard Brent ask where she was and where was the guy that drives that car over there? She remembers closing her eyes as the sobs took over her body. Shaking and letting the tears run down her face and she remembers the last thing Brandon said to her,
“
Good morning beautiful.
”
And she starts crying again
.

  
“
Chris
”
Turning her head Chris sees Barb sitting in the chair. Barb gets up and walks over to her and holds her hand.
“
Are you okay?
”
Chris closes her eyes, slowly shakes her head back and forth, while biting her lower lip until she can taste blood. Opening her eyes she thinks mom probably slept in the chair all night and by the look of her puffy eyes, she spent a good part of the night crying.
“
Your dad and Brent are out in the waiting room. They
’
ve been waiting to see you.
”

  
“
Mom, can you help me sit up?
”
Chris can see Barb fighting back the tears and Chris squeezes her hand.
“
Mom, I don
’
t know what the reason is, but remember you told me,
“
Everything happens for a reason?
”
Did they catch them? The guys that shot Brandon that is?
”
Barb can
’
t hold back the tears any longer as she hugs Chris. Chris clenches and unclenches her hands.
“
Let them come in.
”

   Brent knocks on the door and walks in. Still clenching and unclenching her hands, trying not to cry Chris looks at him and gives him a tight lipped smile. She sees he
’
s been crying too as he bends down to kiss her on the cheek. She doesn
’
t know what to say and she
’
s afraid of opening her mouth to speak, she knows she
’
s going to break down again. Brent pulls the chair closer to the bed, sits down and holds her hand.

  
“
Hi Chris.
”

   
“
Where
’
s my dad?
”

Brent looks down at their hands and squeezes hers a little tighter.

  
“
He couldn
’
t come in right now Chris. He was going to take your mom home.
”

Chris nods her head and sighs.
“
Okay
”

  
“
Chris, I
’
m so sorry, but I have to know.
”
And the tears roll down his cheeks. Without looking at him Chris tells him everything she can remember, but doesn
’
t tell him about Brandon asking her what time it was, or about him tugging on her hair and telling her,
“
Good morning Beautiful
”
That was for her ears only.

Finally looking at him through her tears Chris asks,
“
Did they catch them?
”

  
“
I don
’
t know, Chris. I
’
ve been here all night. I do know that the man that called the police and helped you, gave the police a description of the men and their car.
”

  
“
Did you go tell his mom?
”

  
“
No, the police went over to her house to tell her.
”

While they are talking a man in a suit walks in.
“
Chris Reed?
”

Brent looks at him,
“
Can we help you?
”

  
“
I
’
m Mrs. Richard Reed
’
s attorney and I have some papers that I need Chris to sign.
”

  
“
Excuse me? She has just been through a traumatic experience. Do you really have to do this now?
”

  
“
I
’
m really sorry, but yes, I do need to get her to sign these.
”

Chris holds out her hand to him,
“
What are these papers for?
”

He hands her the first one,
“
This is for the annulment of your marriage to Brandon Reed.
”
Chris bites her lip, and through her tears she signs it.

  
“
Chris!
”
Brent exclaims.

She picks it up and before handing it back to the attorney Chris tears it down the middle and hands him both pieces.
“
I
’
d like a copy of that please.
”
She tells him as he hands her another piece of paper.
“
And what, may I ask, is this one for?
”

He smiles a sad smile at her, hating his job at this very moment.
“
This is a court order that I have the right to remove all of Brandon Reed
’
s property from your apartment and that the manager of the apartment complex has your permission to open the door for me.
”
She signs it and once again tears it in half before handing it back to him.
“
I
’
m so sorry.
”
He tells her as he hands her the last sheet.

  
“
And this one?
”
She asks.

He won
’
t even look at her as he tells her,
“
It is a restraining order saying you are not allowed within 500 feet of Brandon Reed
’
s funeral.
”