The Fire in Your Hands

Andy and I had been home two months now. Things couldn't have been better, Andy and I were planning our small, quaint wedding to be set in a few months, we spent time spoiling the girls, having the kitchen table chats with mom over morning coffee, to fall asleep in the best place in the world.

But this morning my world shattered.

I was asleep in Andy's arms, the safest and best place I could ever be, listening to his steady heartbeat. Suddenly my phone rang, Andy's phone following not far behind. I was jolted awake by the sudden, sharp noise. 9:07 am. Andy and I both groaned and reached for our phones. Sara. I was greeted by a frantic 16 year old Sara screaming though the other end.
"Sissy you have to come home now. " This alerted me, quickly I jumped out of bed, throwing on clothes and motioning for Andy to get up.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"Momma won't wake up."
I felt a swell in my throat.
"I'll be there in three minutes. Keep the girls in bed."
I hung up and stuffed my phone in my bra. I was panicking. Bad.
"What's wrong??"
"Something with mom.. We have to go right now."
He got up, throwing on whatever clothes he could find and messing with his long black hair.

---

i burst through the door to my house, not stopping and running frantically to moms bedroom, where she lay still. I couldn't hear anything around me. I slammed the bedroom door shut, for fear one of the girls would see something. I ran to my moms side, shaking her.
"Mom, wake up."
nothing.
"Momma?!"
she wasn't breathing.
"MOMMA WAKE UP YOURE SCARING ME WAKE UP NOW MOMMA WAKE. UP."
i shook her again. I knew it was no use. My whole body was shaking. I picked up the phone on her bedside table and called 911. The rest was a blur. I remember the sirens. I remember the coroner taking my mother away on a stretcher with a white sheet over her. Someone asking me if I needed medical attention. Everything was blurry. It was black and then red again. The whole time I sat curled within myself against the wall. My hands tangled in my hair, pulling. I couldn't hear anything but ringing.


My momma's gone.

Notes

I actually cried writing this chapter. The next few are going to be intense, and sad. Obviously.