"Bryan? Is that you?" the person on the end of the line asked.
Bryan recognized the person as Mrs. Willards. Mrs. Willards was his girlfriend Violet's mom. Bryan wondered why she would be calling him. He hoped that it wasn't because she had caught one of his and Violet's makeout sessions again. If that was the case, he better be ready to be chewed out again. Mrs. Willards was a little on the over protective side.
"Yes, Mrs. Willards, it's me," said Bryan.
"Bryan, is your mom home?" she asked.
Bryan could hear the tension in her voice. He wondered what he could have done that would have been so bad that Mrs. Willards was going to talk to his mom about it. "Yes, she's home. Why? Do you need to talk to her?" he asked nervously.
"No, I just wanted to make sure that there was someone at your house that could drive you to the hospital," said Mrs. Willards in a quiet voice.
"What? The hospital? Why? What happened?" Bryan asked all at once. Suddenly Mrs. Willards walking in on one of his and Violet's makeout sessions didn't seem so bad.
"My husband was driving Violet home from volleyball practice when they got hit by a car that ran a red light. The doctors said that my husband will be okay, but they're not that optimistic about Violet," said Mrs. Willards, who was close tears now.
What? The doctors aren't that optimistic about Violet? Bryan wasn't stupid; he knew what that meant. "I'll try to get to the hospital as quick as I can," said Bryan.
"Okay, hurry," said Mrs. Willards, even closer to tears than the time before.
"Bye," said Bryan as he hung up the phone.
Bryan ran downstairs and into the kitchen where his mom was cooking dinner. "Mom, Violet was in a car wreck. You have to take me to the hospital now! The doctors don't know if she's going to be okay or not!" Bryan practically yelled at his mom.
His mom didn't say anything as she turned off the stove and reached for the car keys. Bryan then followed her to the car. The ride to the hospital was completely silent. Bryan didn't say anything and his mom didn't ask about the wreck. Bryan was too deep in thought to talk. He and Violet had known each other since they were in diapers. They were friends until kindergarten, which was when you were considered boyfriend and girlfriend if you were a boy and were friends with a girl, or vise versa.
Then, in fifth grade on recess, Violet had gone up to Bryan and gave him a kiss on the cheek. They had been "going out" ever since. Bryan didn't know how he could ever bear to lose her.
Bryan and his mom finally got to the hospital. Bryan hopped out of the car and ran as fast as he could into the hospital. He walked up to the front desk and asked the nurse that was sitting there, "Could you please tell me what room Violet Willards is in?"
The nurse typed a little bit on the computer and then asked, "How do you spell Willards?"
Bryan quickly said, "W-I-L-L-A-R-D-S."
The nurse typed in a little more, then asked, "Was that one or two L's?"
Bryan was beginning to get annoyed. "Two," he said.
The nurse typed the rest in and then said, "Floor 2, Room 31."
Bryan frantically searched around for an elevator. His mom, who had just caught up with him, pointed to the left. Bryan looked in the direction where her finger was pointing. He saw an elevator. He ran over to it and pressed the "up" button. It seemed to take forever for an elevator to be open, but one finally was. Bryan and his mom got in it. Bryan hit the button for Floor 2.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Bryan ran out and went in search of room 31. He found it quickly because it wasn't far from the elevator. Bryan could see right into the room because of the clear windows. He could see Violet lying on the hospital bed with tubes sticking out of her. There wasn't one sticking out of her mouth though. Bryan could also see that her mom was also in the room with her holding her hand.
Bryan quietly walked into the room. Violet's mom looked up. She stood up and walked out of the room. While she was doing this, she said, "I'll leave you two alone."
Bryan walked over to Violet. Her eyes were closed. He took her hand. He didn't know what to say or do. He couldn't stand seeing Violet lying helplessly on a hospital bed. Suddenly her eyes fluttered open. "Bryan," she said.
Bryan felt like he was dying inside. It looked like it took all of Violet's strength just to say his name. "Hi," was all that Bryan could get to come out.
"I can hear the doctors talking. Do you know what they say, Bryan?" Violet asked quietly because she couldn't talk any louder.
"What?" asked Bryan.
"They say that I'm going to die. I hope I do. It hurts so much, Bryan," said Violet.
Bryan squeezed Violet's hand a little more tightly. "Don't say that," he said as a lump rose in his throat.
"Bryan, you know how much I love red roses, right?" asked Violet.
"Right," said Bryan, who was wondering what red roses had to do with anything.
"When I die, will you put a red rose on my grave?" asked Violet.
"You're not going to die now. You're not going to die until you're really old and have had lots of kids and they have had kids and maybe even their kids have had kids," said Bryan.
Violet smiled at the thought. "Bryan," she said. "I'm going to die. Promise me now. Please."
Bryan said, "I promise," even though he didn't think that Violet was going to die. She couldn't die.
"Good bye Bryan. Tell my dad that it wasn't his fault and that I love him. Tell my mom that I love her too. I love you also, Bryan," said Violet, who now talked so quietly that Bryan could hardly hear her.
Bryan told Violet, "I love you too," but he wasn't sure if she heard him or not because he said that as she closed her eyes. Then one of the machines that she was attached to let out a long beep.
Doctors and nurses rushed into the room. One of them pushed Bryan out of the way. Bryan strained to see what they were doing to Violet, but he couldn't because there were too many doctors. "What's happening? What's wrong with her?" Bryan kept asking.
No one answered Bryan. They were all too busy trying to save Violet. They all were working furiously around her. All of them were constantly shouting, but Bryan made no sense of it all. He couldn't even tell if what they were doing was working or not.
After a while, one of the doctors said something and the frenzy stopped. All of the doctors and nurses began to walk away. Bryan stopped a nurse. "What happened? Is Violet okay?" he asked her.
The nurse's expression said it all. "She died," she said as a tear fell down her cheek.
Bryan was stunned. Violet was dead? How? She was alive just a minute ago! She was too young! She wasn't supposed to die. Tears started to fall from Bryan's eyes. He didn't even try to stop them. "No!" he choked out between tears.
Bryan just stood in the room crying. Violet wasn't supposed to die. Not now. She wasn't ever old enough to drive a car....
Someone came up behind Bryan and put their arm around his shoulder. Bryan turned to see who it was. It was his mom. "She's dead, Mom," he said as he cried.
"I know," said his mom as she hugged him tighter.
**********
It had been one day since Violet's funeral. Bryan was standing next to her grave with a red rose in his hand. He didn't care about the rose's torns. The pain of losing Violet was much worse than a few small cuts on his hand.
Bryan knelt down by the grave and set the rose on it. Then he stood up again and started to speak. "Violet, I don't really know where you are right now or if you can hear me, but I don't care."
Bryan paused for a minute before he started to speak again. "I brought you your rose," he said. "I thought about buying a plastic one because it would last longer, but I decided that I shouldn't. You deserve better than plastic."
Bryan could feel the tears coming. "I don't think I ever got to tell you how much you meant to me," he said. "Not only were you my girlfriend, but your were my best friend. I always secretly wished that someday I could marry you, but it looks like that won't happen. I want you to know, even after I move on and have other girlfriends, that I will always remember you. I will always love you."
Tears were now falling down Bryan's face. "That's all. Good bye," he said.
Bryan looked at the grave for a moment longer, then walked away.
**********
Violet smiled as she watched from heaven. She later watched as the rose wilted. She watched as Bryan graduated from college & then got married. She watched as he grew older. She saw all of his suffering & all of his joy...and on the day he came to heaven, she was there to greet him.
