Remember this Face, Baby.

The night had gone by dreadfully slow and Kayla had stayed up most of the night, listening to the silence and Karissa’s steady breathing. She had watched the clock tick by and every minute, she wished Karissa would wake up and call out her name. She couldn’t stand holding such a sorrow around her heart, because Karissa always brought joy to her. Now, it seemed like everything precious had vanished and the only thing that hung in the air was a dark and dangerous sorrow.

Caleb had gone home late during the night and he had told Kayla he would be returning early in the morning. Thankfully, Deryk had decided to stay and kept her company for the night. Kayla had begged Karissa’s mother to return home to rest. She hadn’t seen her second mother in such a worry and tired state, and she knew if she rested for a few hours, it could truly help.

After much persisting and pleading on Deryk and Kayla’s behave, they managed to convince Mrs. Montanni to go home and rest. She took Karissa’s sleeping daughter, Alexis with her and with much reluctance, she left the hospital. She promised to return, once she spoke to the principal and explained Kayla’s absence for a few days and dropped off Alexis at day care.

Kayla sighed, quietly, glancing over at Deryk sleeping in an armchair at the far corner of the hospital room. She knew what she wanted from him. She knew if Karissa stayed any longer in this town, her life would continue to be a living hell. Alexis was growing at a rapid pace and once she was at the age of understanding, people wouldn’t give a damn what they said in front of Karissa and Alexis would grow up seeing her mother being treated horribly.

Kayla had written a list that consisted of two very important things, only months previously. As she watched Deryk sleeping in his chair, she smiled and knew it was finally time to pull out that list she had hidden away. She, quietly, crept across the room and grabbed her large purse, trekking back towards the bed. She sat cross-legged on the hard hospital bed and rummaged through the large bag, grumbling under her breathe at the mess.

Finally, she pulled out a folded piece of paper and dropped the purse on the floor. She opened the paper and ran her eyes down the list she had written. In a soft whisper, she read:

1. Find my own happiness.
2. Find someone who will love Karissa forever.

The list may only consist of two things, but they meant the world to her. Kayla had wanted to find someone who could make her smile, saying the simplest of things and she wanted to share special moments with someone for the rest of her. She wanted to find someone who would spend a lifetime trying to make her happy, no matter how hard it may be at times.

Then, there was Karissa. David had broken her heart more than once, and even if Karissa didn’t want to admit it, Kayla knew everyday David did something to step repeatedly on her heart. Kayla didn’t want David to come near Karissa, because there would be disaster waiting at the end for them. Kayla knew, deep in the depths of her soul, Karissa would find someone who would love her for her and no one else. And that’s where Deryk came in; Kayla might have not thought Deryk would be the one who would make Karissa happy for the rest of her life and mend her heart, but he could lead her on a better path and help her find someone.

Kayla was willing to hand her best friend over to Deryk and trust him to help Karissa. She didn’t want anything in return; she only wanted to be able to see Karissa truly smiling with no sadness or heartbreak behind her eyes. Deryk could give her a second chance to restart her life, without the past haunting her every step.

Kayla could see sun pushing through a crack between the curtains, as dawn approached. Kayla glanced over at the window, staring at the yellow ray poking inside the dark room, and she followed it, until she saw it stop on Deryk’s chest. Kayla glanced away from his chest and stared at Deryk’s face. He was sleeping, thankfully and he wouldn’t accuse her of creeping on him like a stalker.

As she stared at him though, she smiled when she finally realized something; it was sign that she was correct.

FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW

If this was Heaven, why in God’s name was it so cold? A large shiver rippled down my body and absent-mindedly, I wrapped my arms around my body. I ignored the chatter of my teeth, echoing throughout this gloomy and dark place I had woken up in a few hours ago.

I was leaned against a large hanging tree, a top of a hill over-looking the meadow I had opened my eyes to. The sky was grey overhead and the sun hadn’t tried once to shine and take the shadows away. Without the sun’s warm rays, the temperature remained cool and every few minutes, there was an unpleasant wisp of air that pulled at my hair. A light fog had crept onto the ground and it surrounded me like a cool blanket.

I wondered where I was and why I felt so incredibly alone. When I had closed my eyes at the school and ran into the light, I had expected to open my eyes to a blue sky with the sun shining high above the clouds. I hadn’t expected to wake up in this dark meadow, which seemed more like a swamp.

I let out a short breathe, watching it escape my mouth into the atmosphere as a grey cloud. Slowly, it dissolved into the foggy air and mixed into one. I watched the fog move, slithering almost snake-like towards me and another shiver ran down my body, but this time, my body ignored the cold and welcomed fear. I watched, intently, as the fog moved quicker towards me and then, suddenly, it moved upwards. It floated towards me and I watched, fear-stricken, as it continued towards me. It stopped right in front of me and stood there for what seemed like an eternity. Somehow, even though the fog didn’t have any eyes, I could feel it watching me, piercing its eyeless eyes into my soul.

“You should not be here,” it whispered, snake-like, close to my ear. I gasped, loudly and averted my eyes from the fog-like figure, to my right side and nothing was there. I glanced back, quickly to the figure in front of me and swallowed hard.

“Who – who are you?” I stammered, nervously and pressed myself closer to the tree, hugging my knees close to my chest.

“I have many names,” the figure answered, and it continued, answering darkly, “My most common name is Death.” My heart sank, instantly and my eyes widened with a sudden realization.

“I’m not dead, am I?” I asked, feeling the sudden urge to get closer to the figure before me.

Its answer surprised me and it chuckled, “Unfortunately, my dear, you are not. This is the land you walk on before you reach my gates. I welcome you there and bring you to the Otherworld, but you, Karissa, are trespassing,” it answered.

“I don’t even know how I got here. I was badly beaten and I closed my eyes. I saw a light and I ran into it; I woke up here,” I explained, urgently and tears welled at the corners of my eyes.

“You must leave here at once, or you will not be able to return,” it spoke dangerously soft, and it wasn’t like I wanted to be here. I wanted to be back with Kayla and my mother; I wanted to hold Alexis, not be trapped in this “land to the Otherworld”, as the thing put it.

“I want to leave, damn it. I don’t know how, do you not understand that? I woke up here, without any realization of where I was! I don’t even know how to go back!” I shrieked, exasperatedly and stumbled to a stand. The fog moved backwards, as I walked towards it and tried reaching for the fog-like figure.

“Then you must look within and reach. There, you will find how to return to the world you belong in. Look within and reach,” the thing rasped, and slowly, it descended back into the ground, melting away with the fog. I screamed, running forward, trying to grab the thing. The fog quickly moved away from me and into the swamp at the bottom of the hill.

I followed the ghost-like fog into the freezing swamp, until it hugged my middle and my toes began numbing. Sobbing, loudly, I screamed into the air and punched the water around me, telling the thing to come back and show me my way out of here. But as I waited, it never came back. I stood there, letting the water numb my entire bottom half, waiting.

But it never came.

Slowly, I moved out of the water, teeth chattering and body shaking violently. I looked at my surroundings and I could feel the gloominess entering my body, as it hung thickly in the air. I could taste it, as I breathed it in. As though I was walking in slow motion, I felt my body fall forward and the mud touched my body, licking my skin. I laid, cold and dirty in the mud, with water lapsing on my legs.

I thought about my mother; my beautiful two year old, Alexis; my best friend, Kayla; the father of my baby; Caleb; and Deryk. I remembered holding my daughter after I have given birth and how utterly beautiful and small she looked in my arms. I remembered back to when David and I were an item; how perfect everything seemed. I remembered back to the oldest of memories and thought about my family; my mother and my father watching me as I ran into the lake water, giggling and calling them in. Even if I didn’t have the father of my daughter by my side, supporting me like I wanted to or my father to support me, as a daughter, I had a perfect dysfunctional family and I wanted them back.

THIRD POINT OF VIEW

Kayla woke with a start, sitting up abruptly. She looked frantically around the hospital room, and noticed Deryk wasn’t sitting in the armchair. She stepped onto the cold hospital floor and pulled the curtain aside, seeing Karissa lying motionless on the bed. She averted her gaze from her broken friend and trekked towards the door, poking her head out to scan the hallway. Nurses pushed elders in wheelchairs and patients were walking with their insulin pole, dragging it with them.

Kayla sighed, moving back into the room, as she ran her fingers through her hair and glanced over at her best friend for a moment. She walked over to her best friend and pulled the chair closer to Karissa’s bed, sitting down. She reached across the edge of the bed and laced her hand with Karissa’s, restraining the urge to cry.

“Karissa, if you can hear me, open your eyes. Please, Hon, you can’t leave me and you can’t leave your daughter motherless. She needs you more than your mother and I do. Please, Karissa, open your eyes! Speak to me, goddamn it,” Kayla sobbed, and stared at her friend, in hope that Karissa would listen to her and open her eyes. But as she continued to watch her best friend, she lied there, motionless and the only movement was her steady breathing. That’s how it had been for the past twelve hours.

Kayla hung her head and let her tears fall to the floor, glaring at the tiles. Kayla left her hand laced with Karissa’s hoping God would answer her prayers. She continued to weep, sobbing loudly at the floor. It didn’t matter that her throat was beginning to ache, or that maybe patients and nurses could hear her basically shrieking. It didn’t matter because the only person that mattered couldn’t hear her.

Kayla’s sobs deceased to sniffles and slowly, she lifted her head to watch her best friend. She felt extremely tired, from the lack of sleep and sobbing. She ran her hand underneath her nose, removing all the snot, and then wiped it on her pants. Again, she squeezed Karissa’s hand and smiled, half-heartedly. “I love you, Karissa,” she whispered and let go of her hand, standing up from her seat.

Kayla stepped away from Karissa’s bed, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks. She walked towards the door and leaned against the doorframe, staring down the hallway for any sign of Caleb, Deryk or Mrs. Montanni. She knew it was early in the morning, but she still didn’t dare search for the time. She didn’t want to sit in a trance-like state, watching the clock tick by so incredibly slow. Like yesterday night, she had sat watching the clock, hoping and expecting Karissa would awaken from the dreadful slumber that had kept her motionless for hours.

Kayla watched and watched, again expecting to see a familiar face amongst the nurses, but found no one. She was too caught up in her own mind to realize Karissa’s eyes snap open.