Shooting Stars Don't Say Goodbye

by Marcos, J. A.

  That day in the hospital, right after he asked me who I was, I felt my heart race. I felt everything that I had to feel. I thought of all I had to think. After that, I just heard his smile, a light and peaceful smile.

  I am here facing the sea with this strange feeling inside of me, a feeling that fills me and at the same time makes me feel bad, but not in a negative way, in a positive way.

  I hear in the distance the sound of someone approaching and I think it's time to prepare myself for what I came here to do. It's time to do what I prepared myself to do during all these days. To grow, evolve, fight my fears and be strong, because today I have new fears, different from those of the past.

  - I thought I wasn’t going to meet you that soon - I feel strong arms embracing me from behind while I still standing with a tear rolling down from my eyes.

  - I left a message for you saying that I would be here - I say and at this point I turn around and kiss him.

  Our kiss is sweet and salty at the same time. His lips are soft, sweet. The kiss is gentle and last long.

  - Your mother told me. She said you had something important to talk about and would be waiting for me here.

  He had no idea what I had to talk. I also had no idea how I was going to say it.

  - It needed to be here.

  He just laughed and kissed me again. He loved to kiss me and I loved being kissed by him.

  - You can say. I’m hearing.

  - Mat - I said squeezing him hard – Do you remember when you nearly killed me giving me a heart attack when you woke up from that coma asking me who I was?

  - Yes - he laughed.

  Even in that moment, returning from death in that hospital bed, he had to make a joke. On the day Matt awoke from the coma, his body and mind had no idea that he had been sleeping for so long. His common sense was distorted and when he woke up after that long period and saw me next to him, he simply joked asking who I was. He didn’t realize that he had spent so much time in the hospital.

  That day, when he touched my hand, he gave me that tired and silly smile and joked as we often joke asking who is the person who is on our side, he didn’t want to scare me. He had no idea what he was doing. He would only ask: Who are you ... who gets even more beautiful every day?

  The problem is that the phrase stopped on "who are you". He was tired, talking quietly and before he could say the rest of the sentence, a large number of people entered the room to check on him, and I left the place with my heart in my hand.

  That day I cried a lot in the hospital bathroom shortly after leaving the room. I cried for several reasons: because he was well, because he left that state that made us so sad and because he came back to me. But among so much joy I felt a hint of sadness, I cried for imagining that he had no memory left of me. That showed not to be true soon after, to my biggest delight, so doctors have allowed us to enter and I was greeted by the sound of most beautiful and sweet smile I could wish.

  Matt spent a few more days in the hospital under observation, returning to his home right away. He went through strong physiotherapy work for a long time and he’s still doing it until today, since he returned with some minor injuries of the accident that for so long prevented him to walk perfectly. So far he still can’t ride a motorcycle. Whenever he has to go out he uses his father's car, but he no longer has a motorcycle. His mother and I don’t allow him to have one anymore, at least not for now. We were a little bit traumatized by what happened.

  I was beside him during all this time, taking care of him so he would get better. Mr. Lucas didn’t make any other nasty comment about our relationship and has treated me very well. His mother is sweet as always and my parents, ah ... They are my parents, right? I have nothing to complain about them.

  This was a quiet year where nothing differently happened. Our priority was the rehabilitation of Mathew, who gradually became that cheerful and willing guy that we all knew. It was a hard year of work and care, normal, but happy.

  ***

  - Now I am the one who has something to say that is capable of freezing your heart.

  He pressed his nose against mine and kissed my forehead then. In the distance, the waves were making noise while hitting on the reefs.

  I put my hand into my pocket and pulled out a small envelope.

  - Take it.

  I told him.

  - What is it?

  He sounded serious. More than I thought he would sound.

  - Open it.

  I sounded demanding. He opened it.

  - What is it?

  He asked after I heard the noise of the envelope tearing itself open.

  - Exactly what it seems.

  The tears were already running down my face. If this had to be done, that was the place and that seemed to be the right time.

  - How long have you been hiding that from me?

  I couldn’t understand if he had a tone of voice of fear, surprise or whatever that might be.

  I had made a discovery recently, something I didn’t expect and which would drastically change our relationship.

  - I discovered recently. What do you have to say about it?

  I waited for the answer with a certain expectation. I didn’t know what would be his reaction, although I expected one in particular.

  He hugged me and spinned me around in the beach. He covered me with kisses and pressed me against his chest.

  - Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. Are you okay? - He sounded worried.

  - Yes, I am.

  I showed my most open and happy smile. That was exactly the attitude that I expected from him.

  - I couldn’t tell you in any other place. It had to be here.

  - I love you - he told me while holding my positive pregnancy test in a frame that my mother helped me to make.

  - I love you - I said - If it’s a boy I want him to have your name.

  He laughed out loud.

  - What a lack of creativity, Ems.

  I laughed this time.

  - But if it's a girl I choose the name.

  He laughed. I agreed.

  - Star - he said - To shine just like her mother.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE:

  Months later Emily and Mathew found that she was expecting, in fact, a girl. They stick to their choice and they named the baby as Star.

  Mathew went to college to study physical education and after his graduation he began to work in the same school as Emily, giving lessons to children.

  They still had two more children, Harry and John.

  They got married years later, only to fulfill formalities, since their love didn’t need any paper to prove its happiness. All it was needed was the smiles on their faces.

  About Mathew’s accident, he preferred not to talk about what happened, saying that he didn’t remember it. One suspected that he has lost control of the motorcycle and that it wasn’t caused by a car. This is something that only he knows, and others would never know. All they know is that he was coming back home at high speed from where he went to engrave their engagement rings with the phrase: Shooting stars don’t say goodbye.

  Mathew's parents continued to be supported by the money from the sales of Mr. Lucas’ paintings. He exposed his paintings in many parts of the world, gaining international prestige. Emily's parents are a lovely couple up to this day and Felipa never lost her friendly and charismatic way of being.

  Jason still didn’t fall in love for anyone, but he got a girl pregnant and gave a grandson to his parents sooner than they could expect, little Charlie. He doesn’t live with the girl, named Esther, but he got in charge of the child's expenses and he is always present in the education and life of Charlie, whom he worships. He graduated in Communication and became a great publicist. He continued hitting on Suzan for a long time. She even hung out with him a few times, but she never wanted to take the romance seriously because of the age difference between them. I personally think this would make a good story.

  As for everyone else, they fol
lowed their lives seeking happiness, the kind of happiness that Emily found at the exact moment that the smile of a certain younger boy ran into her in a particular city park. It was then that love was born, when their souls met for the first time and decided that happiness would only make sense if they spend the rest of their lives next to each other.

  And if you think that this is the end - right here – then you're quite mistaken. That's just the beginning of a beautiful love story.

  BIOGRAPHY

  Marcos Ferreira, advertiser. He works in the writing and digital marketing area. Married to Valerie Santos and has two children, Marcos Neto and Victor Murillo.

  His first publication was an erotic short story, when he participated in a contest that would elect 30 new authors to be part of a publication, and managed to qualify in 13th place, with the short story entitled "Os Morangos de Troy" (Troy’s Strawberries). Since then he went on to participate in several writing contests, with two stories published later: "O Último Dia" (The Last Day) and "Operação Salvem Os Patinhos” (Mission: Save The Little Ducks).

  Movie fan, TV series and literature in general, he writes all genres, but sees himself as a stronger writer in fantasy and romance. It is a blogger at “Leitores Anônimos” (Anonymous Readers), one of the web pages with the fastest growing in Brazil today. The web page always brings columns, reviews and news to its readers.

  Follow the author on social networks:

  Twitter : jamarcosreal

  Blog: www.leitoresanonimos.com.br