The space between us

A Loss in the dark

As Jordan and Isaac stumbled back to their dorm, the cool night air hit them like a slap in the face, momentarily sobering them up. They giggled and leaned on each other, trying to navigate the walkway without stumbling. Finally, they reached their door and pushed it open, calling out to Liam as they entered. Liam, who had been slumped over his desk, half-asleep with his essay sprawled out in front of him, jolted awake at the sound of their voices. He rubbed his eyes, taking in the sight of his friends stumbling around the room. "Hey, guys!" How was the party?" he asked, his voice groggy but curious. Jordan and Isaac collapsed onto the couch, grinning at each other. "It was lit!" Isaac exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. . "Yeah, we're definitely going to need some aspirin in the morning." Liam chuckled, shaking his head. "Sounds like you guys had a blast. I'm stuck here, trying to finish this essay. "You know, the usual." He gestured to his laptop, where the cursor blinked mockingly on the screen. "Jordan's kinda bummed though," Isaac said to Liam. Why? Liam responded, "Audrey never showed up," Isaac said as he kissed his teeth. "That sucks," Liam responded. "Is he okay?" He looks completely out of it. He drank too much. "Can you help me carry him to his bunk?" Isaac said. "Sure thing," Liam responded before standing at his desk to assist Issac by putting Jordan's left arm around his shoulder with his right arm around Isaac's. "Damn, he's heavy , Liam uttered before dropping Jordan on his bunk. Isaac then proceeded to climb to his bunk to get some rest. He was completely out of it too, but not like how Jordan was. Liam also finished up his essay before getting some rest too.

It was 3am and Jordan had just woken up to a phone call. He was tired but still curious to know who it was at that hour. When he thought it might as well be Audrey who was calling, he quickly stretched his hands to reach for his phone, which was meters away from him. He then rubbed his eyes to see who was calling, only to be a bit disappointed that it wasn't her, it was Rachel, her voice soft but shaky, you could tell that she didn't want to be a bother, but something came up, something that couldn't wait a few more hours as she felt this dark empty feeling inside of her. " Jordan she's gone. She said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Babe, what's wrong?" What do you mean she's gone?" Jordan, perplexed by this sudden outburst from his girlfriend, asked? "It's my mum," Rachel said, trying to hold the tears in. She said: "I got a call from the hospital she and Mason were admitted, and they said she had a seizure. She "...... Rachel struggled to get the words out of her mouth. She was doing just fine. The last time i saw her, the doctors said she'd be ready to go home, Rachel said as more tears rolled down her eyes.

Jordan quickly sat upright and asked about Mason," What about Mason?" Is he okay?" He's fine, he was discharged days ago. Rachel responded," How's he holding up?" Jordan asked. I haven't told him yet, I'm too scared to. Rachel replied. What about Vick? Does she know? Jordan asked. She does. We're currently at the hospital. "We dropped Mason's at the neighbors, and he's asking questions and I don't know what to tell him, "Rachel said as she broke into more tears. "Hey, hey," he said, trying to console her. I'm really sorry this happened. It's terrible, I can only imagine what you must be going through right now. I wish I was there for you like you were for me when my dad died. Jordan proceeded to say. I really don't know how to process this. Jordan, my mum, Mason and Vick were all I had. She's gone, and I almost lost Mason too, she said with a sob. But you didn't. He's going to be okay, so will you and Vick. Jordan said in a reassuring tone. Rachel! Vicky's voice was overhead at Jordan's end as Rachel proceeded to say," I gotta go" before she hung up. Jordan wore a shirt and went out of his dorm to get some air. It was a lot to take in. Mrs Anderson was like a mum to him. She was the biggest shipper of their relationship and always wanted what was best for Jordan. He found a bench as he was out on his walk and sat for a moment to think about why the world was so screwed up. It keeps taking the good while the evil remains unscathed. He was a firm believer that God existed, but he began to doubt at the moment as to why he would allow bad things to happen to good people. He was lost in his thoughts, he knew he was just angry and wanted to put the blame on someone or something. "f**k!" he exclaimed, grabbing a rock and throwing it in the distance. He stayed there for at least an hour, deep in his thoughts , before proceeding to head back to his dorm just before dawn set in. Liam was awake and had overhead the entire conversation but pretended he was asleep, to not cause any discomfort to Jordan at the moment. He was in denial, he still didn't want to believe that he woke up to a phone call announcing the death of a woman who was like a mother to him. The mother of his girlfriend nonetheless. " Things are happening, we're leaving this world regardless of whether we like it or not, it's inevitable." The real question was what time it was going to be, and Christina's was apparent today's. He tried to force himself back to sleep, but he still couldn't shake off what was going through his mind, regretting that he couldn't be there for Rachel during this very difficult moment.