Lisa looked down at her light brown right arm, and what others would describe as a blood-curdling scream erupted from her heart and overflowed through her mouth. Then everything went dark.

Lisa twisted and turned on her bed, struggling to wake up from her nightmare. It has to be a dream. Yes, it was a dream. All she needs to do is simply wake up, and it will end.

Wake up, Lisa. Lisa, wake up.

Several seconds later, Lisa’s fluttering eyes slowly opened, and she took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

Thank God! Thank God! Thank God! I knew it was a dream.

Lisa stretched her feet and arms across the bed, but her right arm was heavy for some reason. Also, for some reason, her bedroom was brighter than usual. Also, since opening her eyes, there was this beeping sound. A sound that was starting to annoy her.

Why would a vehicle have such an annoying, alarming sound? Well, it is irritating, and that’s why a vehicle should have it.

Lisa smiled at her reasoning.

Seconds later, her eyes slowly travelled around the room, and her mouth fell open, but as with her smile, her mouth would not open.

Lisa was not in her bedroom.

Then, the memory came.

Fall was officially two days away, but it still felt like summer, and Lisa was in no rush for the warm weather to leave. She wore a light pink polo shirt tucked in blue jeans and black and white sandals and walked through the mall’s parking lot to her blue car. As she approached the car, she was transfixed by the small, square, transparent, floating container that appeared through the black car window next to hers.

Then, the side of her face and arm suddenly felt like they were on fire, and the most unrecognizable sound was coming from her before it went dark.

A nurse entered the room, and Lisa closed her eyes.

Before it went dark, though, she saw him. She saw Derrick sitting in the front seat of the black car, and as he threw the bowl’s contents on her, some of it spilled onto his hand, and he immediately dropped the bowl, crying out. Then she cried out, and the look of horror on his face was unshakable as she lay in the hospital bed.

Lisa and Derrick met in their first year of university, and after he graduated four years later, he went on to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration. Lisa graduated after five years, and she went on to work as an accountant in a tax office about a fifteen-minute drive from her home.

About three months after settling into working, Lisa and Derrick stopped at Jon’s, a popular fast-food restaurant. This was the first time they had gotten together in a month. Yes, they texted and FaceTimed but were too busy to get together. She missed him, and as they sat eating, she reached out and caressed his smooth cheeks. She desperately wanted to kiss him, and because of how he was looking at her, she knew that he was thinking the same thing, but people were everywhere in the restaurant.

Lisa groaned and slowly withdrew her hand, and Derrick laughed. They were finishing eating when Lisa lifted her eyes, and they landed on the most beautiful grey eyes she had ever seen. They were lovely but also like darts as they stared at Lisa. Lisa frowned, then turned to look behind her to see if the darts were for someone behind her. They weren’t, and she turned back to look at the young woman, she had turned her back to her.

About a month later, Lisa received an email with a photo of Derrick and Miss Grey Eyes in a passionate kiss.

“So you are just going to throw us away because of one moment of weakness?” Derrick demanded as they stood in the waiting room of the apartment complex where she lived. She lived on the first floor with her parents and two younger siblings.

“I’m not throwing us away, Derrick; you did that, so don’t put this on me,” Lisa bites back.

“I know, I know. I was foolish, I know that, but I love you. I want you, please, forgive me. I’m sorry.”

“I love you too, and that’s why this hurt so much,” she said, despising herself for the tears in her voice.

“Please,” he said, “I’ve already ended things with her.”

“Good for you, but that has nothing to do with me because the two of us are over.”

Derrick stared at her briefly, saying, “I didn’t realize you could be so cold. Why are you so cold? You claim to love me, but you wouldn’t forgive me?”

“You claim to love me and can’t remain faithful?”

They glared at each other.

“Okay. Okay,” Derrick said, smiling and stepping backwards, “you need time and space to handle this. I’ll give you those, but I’ll text you next week, and we can take things slowly. Okay.”

“You can do whatever you want, but as far as I’m concerned, we are over,” Lisa said, turning and walking away.

A few weeks after that, her face and arms were in severe pain.

Lisa twisted and turned before jumping out of her sleep and sitting upright in bed. Strong, warm arms encircled her.

“It’s okay, Honey. It’s okay. I’m here, I’m here,” her husband said, kissing her forehead.

Yes, Lisa thought as her husband gently lowered her back onto the bed. He was here, and Derick was not because seven years ago, his second solution to his decisions was the Golden Gate Bridge.

The End