For Forever and A Day

5.

Since the accident:
5 months 0 days
May 7th, 2010

Officer Ryan Blake took a deep breath before he let his fist come in contact with the door.

No noise was heard from the other side.

He let out a sigh and the Officer tapped his knuckles to the white wood once again. This time he heard the sound of shuffling feet before they came closer to the door.

On the other side Cassandra Williams  groaned when she was awoken from her slumber. The times she was actually sleeping well  was always when she had to wake up. From her alarm clock to people calling to check up on her it was never when she was having  a bad night.

Cassandra let out a groan as the knock came again, this time minusculely louder. Unwillingly the unkept girl pushed herself up from her bed slowly before  she started to drag her feet towards the door.  She turned on light as she went. Unwillingly may be added.

Ryan heard the bolt become undone before the door slowly slid open. His breath caught in his throats when he saw the flight state the girl was in.

She was standing up straight but her shoulders were slightly hunched forward. Her hazel eyes had dark circles under them and her strawberry hair was a mass of tangles.

The girl rubbed her eyes for a second before letting them focus on Officer Blake. "How may I help you?" She asked  with not even a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"I'm here to ask you some questions about the accident."  He said as he stood a little straighter, gripping the manila folder tightly in his slightly clenched fists.

"I answered all the questions they asked me when the accident happened ." Cassandra unintentionally clenched her fists, pushing her long nails into her palm tightly. The pain hurt but she didn't pay much mind to it.

"Yes but I'm reopening the case. I wanted to hear from you again and ask you some other questions that might help me."

Ms.Williams eyes narrowed as her hand gripped tightly on the door. "I-"

"Please. To help Mr.Turners rest and let you all move on."

Cassandra's features softened as she looked at the man. She saw his sincerity. She saw his kindness.

She noticed his tightened shoulders and looked down at his hands to see the case file with a serial number.

"Is that the case file?" She asked.

The officer looked down at his hands and nodded, "Yes. I wanted to add some notes to the file ."

Cassandra nodded. He devil and angel were fighting against one another in her head as she tried to figure out what to do.

'Should I let him in?'

Her muscles moved on their own as she stepped to the side. "Please come in Officer-?" She cut herself off, unsure of what his name was. She remembered him from before but she didn't pay much attention to the details because honestly, she didn't really care.

"Ryan Blake. It's nice to meet you  formally Ms.Williams." He stepped into her apartment and looked around as the woman closed the door behind him.

"Please take a seat." She took a. Silent deep breath as the Officer sat down on the chair next to the couch. "May I get you anything?"

Ryan smiled as he shook his head. "I'm quite alright thank you." He pulled the pen off of where it hung from the Manila folder and clicked the button before opening the folder.

He set both down on his lap and removed the hat from his head before setting it down on the small coffee table covered with papers and books in front of him. His blonde hair  was perfectly styled which was a surprising to most.

Usually he allowed his  hair to be messy but today he wanted to act professional and show he cared about his job to the broken young woman. She lost a lot and he wanted to help solve the case so she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

"You like to read?" He asked as he tried to ease some of the tension in the room.

"Not as much as Bryan did but I do yes." A light smile graced Cassandra's lips as she looked down and as suddenly as Ryan saw it it had disappeared again. The girl cleared her throat as she moved towards the couch and sat down.

She slowly looked up from her hands and to Officer Blake's blue eyes. "May we get started?"

Cassandra Williams eyes were hurting. She was tired of crying. All she wanted to do was sleep and let her eyes rejuvenate and pretend that all of this was dream and that Bryan was an imaginary person and that she conjured up.

But she knew she couldn't.

Bryan was a huge part of her life and there was no replacing him in it.

She looked down as people filed into the funeral home. She sat front row, hands folded on her lap as she closed her eyes and looked down. She played that she could hold it together. She prayed that she wouldn't cry in front of everyone.

She squeezed her hands tighter, pressing her fingernails into the skin. She didn't even notice when the priest began to speak. She didn't even notice when people began go out to their cars and prepared to go to the cemetery.

Mrs.Turners placed a hand on the girls shoulder and helped her up. The mother brought the young girl to her parents. But Cassandra did not stop walking.

She immediately headed towards her parents car and climbed inside. The less time she was around others the better.

The girl wiped her eyes with the back of her small hand as she waited. When the girls parents finally arrived the girl had calmed herself down enough to give them short replies.

It hurt but she had to pretend that this was a dream. It was the only way that Cassandra knew she could could herself calm enough to get through this whole ordeal.

The funeral was a mess. People were crying, some sobbing. Cassandra was barely able to hold it all together. A few tears came to her eyes every few second but she would just wipe them away and take a few deep breathes.

When Cassandra finally escaped after the mass and the burial she immediately went home. With shaking hands she opened the door as quickly as she could.

Immediately she closed the door and locked it before she fell forward against it. She fell to her knees as she leaned her foreheads against the door. That's when Cassandra Williams's heart broke all over again.

She barely remembered the burial. All she remembered was him in a casket, his eyes closed as if he were playing a prank on her and would wake up any minute and tell her it was all one big joke.

And under all that she remembered his last breath. How she didn't even get to say goodbye to him. It was only to his shadow.