Page 96 of When We Crash

“Except I apparently broke your heart seven years ago, and she taped it all back together,” I grumbled, not sure about the whole situation.

“You taped it back together a few weeks ago. She just made it easier to move forward with all the pieces.” He kissed the back of my hand and Ralph rang the doorbell.

There was movement on the other side and the door opened slowly, revealing an older man whose eyes squinted in the sun. He looked at Ralph and Dexter with a sadness in his eyes. “I don’t know that she’s up for company today.” He cleared his throat, his eyes still squinting.

Looking past him, I noticed how dark it was inside. There was something about that darkness that frightened me, and I was scared to see what was in it.

Death was on the doorstep of this man’s life. While I was familiar with death, even yearning for it at times, I felt uneasy.

“We brought Noa,” Ralph said as Dexter held up our joined hands.

The man’s eyes brightened, and he stepped forward, shaking my free hand. “Noa, it’s wonderful to finally meet you. Come in. I’ll get Molly ready and then you guys can come up.” He ushered us in, and we sat on a couch.

Dexter turned on a lamp, and I wondered why he didn’t open the curtains. The man went upstairs, taking each step with care.

Ralph sat back beside me with a shaky inhale. “Greg Senior looks like he’s aged quite a bit since we were last here.”

“What’s wrong with Molly?” I asked. They had to know I’d ask. This wasn’t normal behavior at all. Not that I was an expert on it, but they were all tiptoeing in this dark house and no one had bothered to fill me in.

Dexter was pacing the room but when I asked, he stopped and looked at me. He opened his mouth to answer, but Greg Senior spoke for him from the stairs.

“Leukemia. I think it stemmed from her broken heart. I’ve never seen someone die from a broken heart but, there’s a first time for everything. She’s ready for you guys.” He walked down the hall into more darkness, and before he disappeared, I heard soft sobs.

“What am I doing here?” I whispered. “She’s on her deathbed. She doesn’t give a shit about me.” I tried to turn back, but Ralph blocked me in.

“Trust me,” he insisted, “she wants to see you. Now, up the stairs you go. Dex, you go first.” Ralph followed me up the steps.

Dexter stopped in front of a door. It looked like any old door, but it smelled like sickness. Like a hospital.

He turned the knob, and through the dim light the lamp shed, I saw someone sitting up in bed, a smile already on her face.

“Oh, Greg!” Tears shone in her eyes, and I looked back at Ralph curiously. He nudged me forward. When Dexter kissed her cheeks and stepped back, her eyes immediately went to me. “Annabelle? I thought I’d never see you again! How lovely.”

She held out her arms and I went. Something about this woman was familiar. While I wasn’t too keen on her calling me by a dead girl’s name, I figured she was addled in her current state. When Ralph stepped in, I wondered who she’d have him be. But when he was called Ralph, I frowned.

What?

Dexter came over to me and took my hand.

She turned her attention back to us. “I never thought I’d see the day. You two lovebirds back together. But, I always told you, Greg Junior, if you waited, you’d find her again. Where was she hiding?” Her hairless face grew warm with excitement, the colorful scarf on her head hiding what I assumed was smooth and bald.

Dexter recanted the story of how we ran into each other in Seattle and I looked around. Beautiful photos covered the walls. While what was taking place in this room was awful, terrible, and downright sad, the room was gorgeous. These photos brought her pleasure through her space while her own body was killing her and being pumped with poison.

I wanted to cry for this woman, but I couldn’t because I was still trying to place the familiarity between us.

She didn’t sound insane. She spoke lucidly and talked about things that were very normal. She even asked about Phoebe and Rachel, which threw me for a loop. At one point, she noticed my confused expression and spoke to me.

“I know you’re Noa like I know he’s Dexter. But, at one time, he was Greg Junior and you were Annabelle.” She chuckled when I stammered. “Being so close to death, it opens up the universe. I can see things I couldn’t before, experience things and understand things I couldn’t before.” She began to cry, even as her smile didn’t waver.

Dexter ran his thumb over my knuckle, and I felt like I was in Wonderland.

“I think it’s time we head home, Molly,” Ralph said, leaning in close to kiss her cheek.

She nodded, tears still in her eyes.

I hugged her frail little body and part of me knew this was it—I’d never see her alive again. While I knew I never met this woman before, I clung to her desperately. I stepped back, wiping the moisture from my eyes, and kissed her cheeks. Through the sickness and the hell she was going through, she glowed. It was remarkable to see. It gave me hope.

She placed her hands on my cheeks and brought my ear to her lips. “You’re hurting. But the pain, sometimes it reminds us we’re alive.”

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