Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,181
departed this one. Elise heard what was being said but she didn’t really listen, she watched absently as the words almost drifted away on the light summer breeze and reflected ironically on how much the breeze mirrored life itself – there for the briefest of moments and then gone, blown away in the next – gone on to who knew where.
The graveyard was packed with grieving friends and relatives, most of whom Elise didn’t know but then she hadn’t expected to. She stood at the front, adjacent almost to the hole that was now swallowing up another life. She had Cole and Stephen with her, one on each side and for that she was glad. She leaned closer into both of them, taking their warmth and comfort and allowing it to give her strength. The last six months of her life had been the worst kind of rollercoaster and she was still struggling to come to terms with all that had happened since the first day that she had met Vaughn Granger.
So much had changed since that fateful day and now they were all trying to re-build what was left of their shattered and bruised lives. For her, it would be a long journey, she knew that, but she also felt confident that with the support of her friends, she would find the strength to begin again.
The minister had finished speaking and several of the congregation now approached the grave, some dropping in handfuls of earth and murmuring their own words of solace, others just looking, watching, wanting to be close one last time.
Elise stood slightly to the side as she allowed Cole to greet people and share condolences. He did it expertly, giving every one of them time, allowing them to give and receive words of encouragement and hope.
Hope. That was something that they all had to hold on to now, given the road that they were about to travel. Elise had never been a philosopher but in the last week, ever since Stephen had called her to the hospital, she had prayed endlessly to a God that she had never really believed in before and turned to the premise of hope – the only tool that she really had left.
People were leaving now, dissipating, heading back to their cars and slowly the three of them followed, arms still entwined – each lost in their thoughts and the implications of what today meant for all of them. She hadn’t cried at the funeral – at all. Simply because she had no tears left. The last few months had spurned a lifetime of tears and she was all cried out – literally.
Cole had driven them to the service and now the three of them headed towards his car, each throwing one last glance over their shoulder as they watched the ground staff begin the arduous job of filling the massive hole. The last couple of mourners were now also drifting finally away, arms clutched around each other, tissues and handkerchiefs pressed to their eyes and watching them Elise shivered. This was it, the end of another life and the finality of that hit far too close to home and a wave of pure sorrow crashed over her.
She got into the backseat of the car, her legs now trembling, her whole body beginning to quake and Stephen settled in beside her rather than getting into the front with Cole. He had obviously realised that she needed his comfort and quickly he pulled her back into the circle of his arms, the solace that they provided welcome and essential. She couldn’t believe how much her relationship with this man had changed in just a few short months but she knew that much like with Cole, they now shared a bond that would never be severed. It was different to her friendship with Cole, but it was no less powerful and she endlessly thanked providence and anyone else that might be listening, for her fortune in having these two beautiful men in her life.
They turned out of the graveyard and Elise took little notice of where they were headed, numb as she was, and lost in her own thoughts. Stephen and Cole made small talk but she didn’t really hear any words. Their chatter was soothing but it wouldn’t change any of the recent events and she didn’t have the energy to tune in. She would work out how to live again eventually, but for now, she was enjoying the welcome numbness that the funeral had induced. To have an empty mind for her was a novelty and she wanted to enjoy that, grab the break that it gave her exhausted brain with both hands. Let everyone else do the living for now, she was content just to exist.
Time passed and then eventually they turned off the road and into a car park and Elise looked around at the familiar sights, recognising many of the landmarks, buildings and even vehicles. This had become her second home almost, and she was as familiar with it as she was with anywhere else that she had lived recently.
Cole pulled into a parking space and then the three of them exited the vehicle, immediately moving into their now almost familiar three-way hug, arms clutched around each other as they walked together into the building. Arriving at the lift Cole pressed the call button and they waited, boarding it in silence when it finally came. Slowly it began its ascendancy and the three of them stood side by side, lost in their own thoughts as they continued onto the next stage of this crazy journey that they all now found themselves on.
The lift reached its destination and Elise walked out first followed by the two men. Automatically she turned left, she didn’t need to look at any numbers or signs any more, she knew exactly where she was going. Down the hall they went, her heels clattering against the floor, echoing in the silence. They passed door after door until eventually they arrived at number 14 and Cole reached around her to gently push it open.
Elise entered first, the well-known smell assailing her senses as she took in the familiarity of the room. The walls, all that uniform colour that she had become so accustomed to, the flowers that were on the window sill keeping everything fresh and bright, the door off to the left leading to the bathroom, the large picture window overlooking the gardens and finally the bed. As her eyes reached this last piece of furniture she drank in the sight that met her and at last she began to breathe again. She could finally feel the life beginning to seep back into her with the warmth that radiated from the bed and its occupant.
She walked up to the side of the large cot and reached out her hand, touching the heat of another human being, feeling their strength and their connection to her and to this world. Absently she rubbed her cold hands against warm fingers as she became aware of the two men who had accompanied her also settling into the room, pulling up chairs, exchanging pleasantries, fixing drinks, organising everything.
She was aware of nothing other than the bed and the person in it. Her eyes travelled up over the covers until eventually they reached the pillows and she took in the most beautiful sight in the world, a sight that just a few short days ago she had never thought she would see again.
Eyes locked, baby blue onto dark dark brown and slowly they both smiled.
“Hey.” He spoke, that wonderful deep sexy voice that she had grown to love almost as much as the man himself. “How’d it go?”
She nodded, unable to form any words, allowing the others to fill in the gaps whilst she continued to drink her fill of the stunning man before her. He was her reason for living now, he was her life, he was her hope and she knew that without a shadow of a doubt, together they would mount all of the obstacles that life threw in their path.
They would have to. They needed to be together – she had learned that if nothing else. They were nothing without each other and now, once they finally left this place far behind them, they needed to embrace the long road ahead, and let it take them wherever it deemed they needed to go.