Funeral

Sam

    “Hey Seth.” I said, aware that my voice was breaking, and the tears were starting again.

    “Sam? What’s wrong?” I didn’t say anything. “Oh, no. Please no.” He said, his voice oddly strained.

    “Mom’s . . .” But I couldn’t finish the sentence. We both broke down. It was the first time I had ever heard my brother cry. I eventually hung up, and went back into the room with Dani.

    “I’m so sorry, Sam.” She said.

    “It’s . . . It’s okay. Dani?” I asked.

    “Yes?”

    “Would- Would you sing at her funeral?” I had only heard her sing once, last year. She had thought she was alone. But I had followed her. She had broken out into song, and I had been shocked by how good a singer she was. Her voice was high, clear, and sweet. Just then, she had seen me, and blushed profusely. I remember laughing, bringing her back to the house for lunch. Speaking of memories, right after she had fallen asleep last night, Dylan went to go refill our popcorn, and I started talking.

"Hey, Dani. Look, I don't want to rush you. But I know you're in there somewhere. And there are people out here waiting for you to come back. They all need you, Dani. I need you. Just . . . Please come back." Then Dylan came in, and we resumed the movie. Not five minutes later, she woke up screaming. I was pulled back into the present by the sound of Dani quietly sobbing.

            "I'm so sorry, Sam. This is all my fault."

            "What?"

            "If I hadn't wanted to go to the library . . ."

            "Dani, it wasn't your fault. "

            "You shouldn’t be comforting me. I should be comforting you." She said, wiping her eyes.

            "Let's just go."

Seth, Myra, and Kana flew in the day before the funeral.

"Hey, kiddo." Seth said. "Wish I could say nice to see you again, but . . ." I nodded. Kana, Myra, and Dani were off to the side, talking. Kana asked Dani something that made her blush profusely. I decided not to ask, as Seth and I walked over. He hugged our stepdad, Paul,who drove us over here to pick them up. Then we all rode to my and Pauls house.

      

"Myra and Kana will share the guestroom, Sam and Seth will share Sam's room." Paul said once we were there. Dani had walked home already. Seth plopped his stuff down in my room.

"I call top bunk!" Seth said.

            "You'll break it." I told him. He sighed.

            "I call bottom bunk . . ." I grinned. I had missed Seth.

The next day was the funeral. Both Seth and I were in suits, and we were both extremely uncomfortable. The whole Thompson family came to the service. Finally, Dani stood up to sing. At our special request, she was being allowed to sing Amazing Grace. She began, her voice nearly breaking, tears in her eyes. And that's when the enormity, and the finality of the situation finally hit home. My mother was dead. I would never see her again. I fled, not caring about the strange looks. I ran outside, gasping and sobbing, sinking to my knees. My mother was dead. Seth ran out after me.

“Hey. Sam, you okay?” He asked, kneeling down next to me. I tried to answer, but I was crying too hard. No. I wasn’t okay. Fortunately, he could guess what I was about to say. “No. You’re not. But you will be. It will get better, Sam. I promise. The pain will fade, and then you’ll have so many beautiful memories, and you’ll be able to think about them without this much pain. I swear.” He said. I nodded. Inside, I could hear the last notes of Amazing Grace. Then, running footsteps. It was Dani, running outside.

                Dani

I knelt down next to Sam, as Seth stood up. I gave him the biggest hug I could, and for once, our positions were reversed, and he was the one who needed comforting, and I was the one there to comfort. And I was happy that, for once, he wasn’t trying to be tough. Seth started to head back, probably figuring I had the situation in hand, so he could talk to Kana and Myra. And I sat there with Sam, not caring about the grass stains on my dress. Just helping my best friend deal with the pain.

    Kana and Myra exchanged looks as we walked back inside. I had my arm around Sam’s waist, and Sam had an arm around my shoulder. We sat down next to each other. Sam held my hand. He needed something to hold on to as much as I did. Probably more. So we sat there, hand in hand, just comforting each other. Somehow I fell asleep. I woke up to find my head resting on Sam’s shoulder. Everything was over, people were starting to leave. I awkwardly stood up. Sam was asleep too. I gently shook his uninjured shoulder.

    “Sam.” I whispered gently. He came to immediately.

    “Oh. Dani. Is it over?”

    “Yes. Let’s go say goodbye to Seth, Myra, and Kana.” I said. He nodded. We walked over to them. We all exchanged hugs. Right before they left, Kana said

    “Don’t forget what we told you!” I blushed, remembering our earlier conversation. They had just gotten off the plane, and we were talking, when Kana suddenly said

    “So, Dani. When are you going to tell Sam how you feel about him?” I, of course, blushed profusely.

    “It worked for me.” Myra said.

    “I . . . don’t know what you mean.” I said. Kana and Myra exchanged a look, then looked back at me.

    “Okay. . .” They said simultaneously. Just then, Sam and Seth walked over, thankfully ending that conversation. Honestly. Why did everyone assume I had those feelings for Sam? He was just my best friend. That was all. Honestly.

   

It was hard on Sam, his mom being gone. He tried to hide it, but I could always tell. Slowly, though, we both healed. It wasn’t easy, but we kept going, together. And, almost a week later, I noticed a cut on my upper arm. It had something in it, and looked infected. When I went to the hospital, they confirmed it was infected. They had to give me an I.V. My eyes were closed, but I could still feel it.

“Ow!” I cried. Did I mention how much I hate needles? Sam rolled his eyes at me.

“Oh, sure. Spraining your wrist is just a minor inconvenience, but a needle is the end of the world.” I stuck my tongue out at him. Dylan smiled. This was the closest we had come to our normal selves in a while. The sedatives started in, and I leaned back, my mind fuzzy.

                    Sam

She leaned back in her bed. After a minute, she started talking.

    “I hate sedatives. They always make me spill my guts to everyone.” She said. I smiled, and brushed her hair off her forehead, where it was falling again.

    “Really. Do you ever remember what you say?”

    “No, never.” She replied.

“Huh, that’s weird.” I laughed.

“You know, you confuse me.” She said. ‘Some days you’ll tease me, and be my best friend, but others you’ll be all cold and distant. It scares me. I know it’s not your fault. But it does. And I’m confused because sometimes I want to hate you, but most of the time I’m scared everyone’s right, and I do like you. I don’t know . . .” She drifted off halfway through her sentence. I almost wished I could wake her up, so I could tell her how I felt. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I left the room.

"When are you going to tell her?" Dylan asked me.

           "Dylan, you know she has enough on her plate." I said

"Sam, she needs to know."

"And I'll tell her . . . Eventually." I said. He sighed.

"Alright. Just don't wait too long." He warned.

"I won't." I decided to call Seth, since I had nothing else to do.

"Hey, Seth." I said.

"Something wrong?"

"No. I'm just waiting for Dani to get out of surgery, and thought I'd call you."

"Oh, cool. Ummm,can I call you back later?" He asked.ed.

“Sure. Talk to you later, bro.” I hung up. Great. Now what was I going to do? The next few hours, I sat in the waiting room. Eventually, I fell asleep. Dylan woke me up a few hours later.

“She’s out.” I jumped up.

“Let’s go.” She was lying on the bed, asleep. I brushed the hair back yet again from her head.

“Sleep well, Dani-bear.” I said. Then I sat down in the chair beside her bed, and waited. And waited. And waited . . .