by Lena Nicole
“Colby, how nice it is to see you again,” she says, giving her a hug.
“You too, Hanna. You remember my maid of honor, Addison? And I see you met my mother,” she says, giving her mother a hug.
“Of course I do. How is everything with the dress you picked out? Still happy with the final choice?” she asks as we start to walk to the back of the store.
“Great, it just needs some alterations, but I can’t wait to wear it,” I say, taking a seat on the couch.
Hanna pulls Colby aside to a private room, where I’m assuming she is going through all the questions that I was asked a year ago when looking for my dress. How does she imagine herself looking on her big day? What type of dresses she loves or hates? All that stuff you would see on “Say Yes To The Dress.”
Hanna comes out of the private room and pours us some champagne, leaving us to go pull the first round of gowns for Colby to try on.
“I am under strict orders from Morgan to take a picture of every dress you try on,” I tell Colby as she is in the dressing room changing into a silk robe.
“Good, I will need all the help I can get. I have an idea what I’m looking for, but I have a feeling once I try on different dresses, I will want them all,” she says, coming out from the changing room.
“That’s perfectly normal, honey,” Colby’s mother says.
I hold up my glass and Colby and her mom do the same. “A toast, to my best friend who has been lucky enough to find her soul mate and gets to spend the rest of her life with him. May you guys be forever happy, forever in love, and forever growing with each other.” We clink our glasses and drink to my toast.
“I still can’t believe Pierce took you to The Price Is Right,” she says putting down her glass.
“I know. I was so excited to go. He said we needed a little fun in our lives, I figured we were going camping or something,” I say laughing.
“Well, it is the best game show on earth. I’m glad he took you, especially since I know how much you love that show.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” I say.
“Okay, ladies,” Hanna says as she walks in with a bunch of gowns in her hands. “I pulled a couple of different styles with bling, per the bride’s request. Let’s get you in one and see how you feel,” she says, leading Colby behind the curtain.
After a few minutes, Colby comes out in a ball gown and I can see that she is trying to hold in her laughter. I don’t blame her; the dress looks like it’s trying to swallow her whole.
“Well, what do you think?” she asks as she’s trying to walk forward, but keeps tripping all over the dress.
“I love it!” Colby’s mom says excitedly.
“I think you should take it off before you hurt yourself,” I say, letting my laughter out.
“Oh, thank God you don’t like this either,” Colby says, laughing as well.
As Colby goes back behind the curtain she calls out, “Any news on the break-in at the condo?”
I adjust in my seat and take a big sip of my champagne, “No, they don’t have any leads; whoever did it must have used gloves, since there were no fingerprints. The blocked calls have stopped and I haven’t had any more weird incidences, so that makes me feel a little more at ease,” I tell her.
Colby comes out in a mermaid style dress next. It has bling all over the top of the gown that stops just above her waist. As she is walking, the dress is fitted to her body perfectly. She looks stunning.
“Stop right there,” I say, pulling out my phone to take a picture. “Now turn and let me see the back,” I say snapping another one, sending it to Morgan.
Colby turns back around and is standing on the platform in front of the mirror. I look over at Colby’s mother who has tears filling her eyes.
“I think it’s pretty on you, but there is just one thing missing,” Hanna says before leaving the room. She quickly comes back with a veil in her hand and places it on Colby’s head. “There, now that’s perfect.”
“I absolutely love it,” I tell Colby, getting up to go stand next to her. “What do you think? Do you like it?” I ask.
I can see Colby’s eyes get watery and Hanna reaches for a tissue to hand to her. She thanks Hanna and wipes her eyes. Smiling, she says, “I love it. I don’t need to try anymore on. This is my dress.”
Colby’s mom gets up and hugs her daughter. Colby wipes the tears out of her mother’s eyes, and they laugh at the emotional wreck they both are at the moment. Colby looks over at me, still sporting her million dollar smile. We both jump up and down in excitement and I pull her into me giving her a big hug. I hear my phone go off and see it’s from Morgan.
“Morgan,” I say as I hold up the phone to read the text to Colby. “That dress was made for her. She doesn’t even need to try on any more.” I finish reading the text and Colby is still lighting up the room with her happiness, swaying from side-to-side as she admires herself in the mirror.
“Okay then, since this is the dress you want, let’s fill out the order form and get your measurements. Then we can schedule your fitting dates,” Hanna says, leading Colby back to the changing room to get her out of the dress.
Once they come back out, Hanna tells us to have a seat and wait while she does all the paperwork. We take the time to talk about the flowers she has chosen and where her reception will be. When Hanna comes back, Colby pays for her dress. We grab our bags and make our way to grab lunch. We both say goodbye to her mother, since she is unable to join us. “I can’t believe I found my dress so fast,” Colby says, stepping out onto the side walk.
“Well when you know, you know,” I say, shuffling the bags in my arms. My phone starts to ring and I look to see who it is.
“It’s Morgan, let me just get this real quick,” I say to Colby, readjusting the bags.
“Here, let me,” she says, taking some of the bags so I can answer the phone.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Please tell me she got the dress. She has to have that dress.”
I laugh and put the phone on speaker. “Colby, Morgan wants to know if you got the dress.”
“I got the dress!” Colby shouts into the phone, doing a little happy dance in place. Morgan starts screaming on her end of the line and yells to whoever she is with that she got the dress.
Colby and I are laughing at Morgan’s excitement as we head toward the café across the street. I notice I’m slightly ahead of Colby, so I tell Morgan I will call her back so I can help Colby with the bags. Before I can hit the end button, I hear tires screeching. I turn to see a car racing toward me and the sound of Colby’s panicked voice moves my attention from the car to her.
“Addison, move!” Colby yells at me as I’m frozen in my spot.
I feel a hard shove snapping me out my state of fear as my body flies across the street. I watch in horror as I see my best friend take full impact from the car she just pushed me away from. Her body jolts up, cracking the windshield before rolling over the roof of the car onto the street. I get up and run to her side, dropping to my knees once I reach her as the red car speeds away. People are yelling at the car trying to get it to stop, but the car keeps going.
“Colby!” I scream over and over again, waiting for a response. Her body is still and she’s not moving. I don’t know what to do. I see blood coming from all over her body and I’m scared that if I touch her, I will make it worse. “Someone call 911!” I yell out through my sobs to the people rushing to our sides.
“Miss, move aside so I can start CPR on her,” a man says, placing his ear close to her face. I know my training as a nurse should be kicking in, but I’m frozen in fear as I stare down at my best friend. “Her chest isn’t moving and I can’t hear any signs of breathing,” the stranger tells me. I move down away from her head, never letting go of her hand. As the man is performing CPR on Colby, I beg and plead with her to stay with me.
“Colby, please hang on. Please don’t leave me, leave us. You’re supposed to be getting married and you ju
st found your dress. You have to breathe for me. I’ll do anything if you would just open your eyes and take a breath. Please, Colby!” I yell the last part out to her in fear she that isn’t hearing me. Panicking that there is still no response or movement on her end, I yell and plead again, “Colby please, breathe, if not for me, then for Damon.”
I hear the sirens of the ambulance and look to the stranger trying to give my friend her life back. “Please don’t stop. Please just keep helping her.” He doesn’t say anything as he continues to pump air into her lungs. The paramedics come and ask the man to move aside.
“No, he can’t stop! She needs his help! Don’t make him stop!” I yell at the paramedics.
“Miss, we’re going to take over. We will do everything we can to help your friend. The sooner we get to her, the sooner she gets to the hospital. I need you to step back please.”
I kiss Colby on the forehead. “Don’t you dare die on us. You hear me? Damon needs you, I need you, we all need you. Be the fighter I know you are. Fight, Colby!” I step back and the paramedics start to examine Colby. They wrap a neck brace around her neck and put her on a body board before loading Colby’s body on a stretcher.
I hear the other paramedics asking questions about how long she hasn’t been breathing and what happened. I can’t find my voice to answer any of them, so they are asking the people who witnessed the accident.
I am standing next to the ambulance when I see the medic give a quick shake of his head and I know that’s not a good sign. He looks at his partner and says, “Let’s load her up and get her to the hospital.”
In that exact moment, I feel my heart shatter into pieces as I realize my best friend is dead. I can’t stop the sobs from pouring out of me. My body is shaking uncontrollably and I’m finding it hard to breathe. I can see a medic trying to talk to me, but I couldn’t care less. I already know what he wants to tell me and I don’t want to hear it. Colby is gone. Nothing he could possibly say to me will make any of this better. I feel the medic place his arms around me and guide me to a gurney. He has me sit and starts to examine me to make sure I’m okay. I want to yell at him and tell him I’m fine because my best friend, the one he just covered with a blanket and loaded up into the other ambulance, jumped in front of a car to save my life. But I don’t. Instead, I sit here sobbing over the loss of my friend.
“You look fine, just some bumps and bruises. The police will need a statement from you,” he says, placing his hand over mine. I’m still stuck in a zombie-like state, so I don’t say anything and just nod. “Miss, I know the police need to take you to the station for a statement and we normally don’t do this, but is there anyone we can call?” he asks with a concerned look in his eyes.
“Colin,” is all I say holding out my phone to the medic.
I CAN’T believe Colby’s gone. It’s been five days since the accident and sometimes it feels like a bad dream that I’ll wake up from and everything will be back to the way it was. I’m sad that I’ve lost a dear friend, but I’m completely torn up for Damon. I call him daily to see how he’s doing. Most times he doesn’t answer his phone, but when he does, I can tell he’s barely hanging on. I know the hurt and pain I went through when Addison didn’t remember me. I can only imagine what it’d be like if she was completely taken away from me.
I think back to the day of Colby’s death and remember how helpless I felt. I didn’t know what to do or how to comfort Addison.
My phone starts ringing. Looking down, I see it’s Addison, so I answer it.
“Hey, Addy,” I answer.
“Uh, is this Colin?” a man’s voice sounds through the receiver. My heart rate instantly spikes, thinking Addison is in some kind of trouble given the recent issues she’s been having.
“Yes, who’s this? Where’s Addison? Is she okay?” I fire off my questions rapidly.
“My name is Domanick and I’m a paramedic. Addison is fine, but she’s not in the right frame of mind right now. The police will need to bring her to the station for a statement. Can you come meet her? I don’t think she should be alone in this state.”
Paramedic? What the hell is going on?
“Yeah, I’m on my way, just tell me where you are.” He tells me their location right as I’m buckling my seatbelt and backing out of my drive way. “What is going on?” I ask him.
“There’s been an accident involving her friend. Addison wasn’t hurt, but she witnessed the whole thing and I’m afraid she’s in a bit of shock.”
I know legally he can’t tell me what happened since I’m not family, so I don’t bother to ask him any further questions. I just know I need to get to Addison quickly.
I see an ambulance and police cars everywhere. People are standing along the sidewalk watching everything happen. I park my car on the curb and jump out and run toward Addison. A cop sees me coming and attempts to stop me.
“I’m here to see my girlfriend. I got a call from one of the paramedics saying she was involved in an accident of some sort. Please, let me get to her.” After asking for mine and her names, he moves out of my way and I continue to run toward her.
I see her sitting up on a gurney staring at the ground. I slow down and approach her cautiously, taking in her body language. She looks almost lifeless. The color has drained from her tear-stained face, she’s disheveled, and she’s not moving an inch. She’s not even blinking. It’s like she’s in a catatonic state and it’s a little scary.
Getting within reaching distance, I hesitantly place my hand on her arm. “Addison, are you okay?” I ask softly. She still doesn’t move, she doesn’t even acknowledge my presence or the fact that I’m touching her.
I shake her slightly. “Addison, can you hear me? Do you need some medical attention?” I raise my voice slightly trying to gain her attention. Finally, she slowly looks up at me with tear-filled eyes. The expression on her face guts me and I know something terrible has happened.
“She’s gone,” she whispers.
“Who’s gone? What happened?”
“Colby,” she replies, her voice cracking. “She pushed me out of the way,” she says looking back down at the ground. Oh God, this can’t mean what I think it does. Does she mean she’s gone as in on her way to the hospital? Or gone as in dead?
Grasping both shoulders, I lean down to try to make eye contact with her. “What do you mean Colby’s gone? What’s going on?”
Looking back up at me with her sad eyes, she says, “She’s dead, Colin. I saw the whole thing happen. A car was about to run me over and she pushed me out of the way. It’s all my fault.” She puts her face in her hands and begins sobbing.
I wrap her in my arms as my throat closes with the knot forming in it. I’m trying really hard not to break down and be there for Addison, but this is so unexpected, I can’t hold it all in, and a single tear falls from my eye. Rocking her back and forth, I whisper in her ear that it’s not her fault and that it’s going to be okay. An officer comes over and tells us he needs to take Addison down to the station to answer some questions. Refusing to leave her side, I tell the officer I will follow them down in my car.
After she answers a few questions for the cops, they give her a card to call if she can remember anything else about the car or the driver. Unfortunately, she didn’t see the person driving the car and was unable to give a description. The officer said he’d be in touch for more questioning at a later date when she’s had a chance to process this. I ask if Colby’s family has been notified and am assured that they have. It sounds shitty, but I’m a little relieved that I don’t have to make that phone call. I’m still trying to process it myself, but I know I can’t put it off forever and I’ll need to call Damon and everyone else tomorrow to see how they’re holding up.
Not wanting to leave her alone, I drive her to my house. I grab a pair of sweats and a T-shirt and help her change into them. We sit on the couch and I cover her up with a blanket. She leans into my side, so I scoot down the couch, grab a pillow, place it in my lap
, and gently guide her to lay her head down. We watch a little TV while I run my fingers through her hair in an effort to comfort her.
Soon enough, exhaustion finally overtakes her and she falls asleep. Carefully, I pick her up and carry her to my bed. I tuck her in and kiss her on the forehead before slipping under the covers and holding her tight to me.
Today is the funeral and I’m dreading it. How do you say goodbye to a good friend that was so young and full of life? It feels like everything will become real if I’m at the funeral home. I know that’s ridiculous, since what happened is as real as it gets, but staying in my house almost makes it so I don’t have to accept it.
A knock on my door pulls me from my thoughts. I walk over and answer it to see Charlotte standing on the other side. She offered to ride with me, knowing that I’d find comfort from her in my time of need.
“Hey, how are you doing?” she asks gently.
“I’m okay. Come on in, I’m almost ready to go.”
She walks in and I grab my suit jacket off the back of the kitchen chair and slide it on. Making sure I have my wallet and keys, I take another look around my apartment, trying to delay the inevitable.
Letting out a sigh, I turn to Charlotte and say, “I really don’t want to go. I don’t want to bury my friend.” I swallow hard, trying to push back the tears that are filling my eyes.
“I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could say or do to make you and your friends feel better. She was very nice and I’m so sorry that she’s gone.”
“Thanks for being here for me. It means a lot that you’re always here when I need you.” I walk to the front door and open it with my right hand when Charlotte places her hand on my left arm.