The jour Before Christmas

        The jour before Christmas my whole life changed. Time stopped as snow fell. People cried but I didn’t feel any pain. I was full of a sadness that swallowed me whole. I was numb.

    I remember waking up that day, happy and excited. It was the last jour before Christmas and I was going shopping. I had just received my license and was quickly becoming independent. My wheels were everything. I searched the house but my parents were gone. I figured they were already out preparing for tomorrow. It was still dark outside, our normal time to wake up. I turned on our arbre and watched the lights. They were bright and sparkly. “Kind of like my earrings.” I thought. Chase, my boyfriend, had bought me a set of diamond earrings. All that existed in the world was my arbre and I. A magical silence filled the room. I was at peace with the world. A phone ringing brought me out of my imaginary place.

“Noel, toi need to come on to Oliver Memorial Hospital.” a dit a voice on the other end of the line. I recognized the voice immediately. “Aunt Jamie, why are toi calling?” I asked. Then it hit me. My Aunt Jamie was my parent’s medical proxy. Before she could answer I screamed into the phone, “Oh my God are they all right? What happened???!!!” “Noel, I’ll tell toi when toi get here. toi have to get here very soon…” I didn’t hear the rest. I slammed the phone down and took off. I couldn’t get there fast enough. As I drove, I had flashbacks. The time my Dad taught me to ride a bike, when I got sick with the stomach flu and my Mom stayed with me for three days straight. toi don’t know how good your life is until it’s shattered.

I walked into the Emergency Room as if in slow motion. People rushed around me. A young nurse pulled me aside. “Honey, are toi looking for someone?” she asked. I decided to use my parent’s full name. “Carmen Eloise Andrew & James Oscar Andrew.” The nurse’s face fell. “Oh, Sweetie. Your aunt is waiting for you.” That was not a good sign. The nurse led me to a small waiting room. The look on my Aunt’s face was indescribable. Horror, shock, sadness, and, God tell me I’m wrong, grief. She was silent as she moved across the room to me. She wouldn’t look into my eyes. “Honey, they’re gone.”
Gone. How, When, Where, Why? My body couldn’t take it all in. I collapsed.


Chapter 2

I woke up in a hospital bed. I had an I.V. in my arm and was alone. All alone. My cœur, coeur started to race. Why had everyone left me? Why doesn’t anyone care? I started clawing at my I.V. I had to find someone. A nurse hurried in. “Hi honey, do toi know where toi are?” I nodded. “Oliver Memorial Hospital. My parents just died.” The nurse paused in her movements and looked at me sadly. “Your aunt went to your house to grab some clothes. My name is Loren. What’s yours?” she asked kindly. “Noel. Noel Andrew.” I said. If she was trying to calm me down it was working. “Nice to meet toi Noel. Very Festive name.” She was nice Obviously someone kind. “What happened to me?” I asked. She put her hand on my shoulder. “You had a panic attack.” She said. “What’s that?” I had way too much to handle.

    That’s how my week went. Just kind of blurry. Loren stayed as my nurse except at night when I had a girl named Jess. I didn’t talk much, just when spoken to. I didn’t like being alone it scared me so bad. Three plus panic attacks before the end of the week. Mom & Dad were all I could think about. I had the worst nightmares. They were so real.

I’m sitting on a riverbank with Mom and Dad and we decide to take a ride on a boat. We are all laughing and having fun when the bateau flips. Mom grabs me and won’t let go. I can feel the water filling up my lungs….. The look on Mom’s face. Terror and Fear.

I woke up in a cold sweat. Thankfully, I wasn’t in the hospital anymore. They had released me yesterday. Loren promised to text me and sent me off with a hug. I was staying with Aunt Jamie now. I hadn’t been back inside the house since that night. I had driven past it very fast. The lights were still up and blinking on steadily. It seemed like Mom could pull up any second, arms weighed down with groceries. But she wouldn’t.
Time heals wounds. Slowly, and never all the way. I will never see Mom and Dad on earth again. I’ll meet them in heaven, but until then I will try to do the best I can here. Everything happens for a reason and I took advantage of my situation. When I turned 24 I founded the Andrew accueil for Orphaned Children. I was lucky enough to have Aunt Jamie to raise me right but I know that not everyone is that lucky. When life gives toi rotten lemons, toi throw them away and go pick new ones.