Kimberly watched as the body of the man she once called the love of her life and fiancé was being lowered six feet under the ground, along with his two friends. Her tears flowed freely down her cheeks, as she realized that he was truly gone, he has left her forever. She would never see those lovely blue eyes or his beautiful smile ever again. She would miss seeing him looking all handsome in his white uniform.
An arm went around her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. She turned to see who the arm belonged to, it was Tony, Ian’s dad. He gave her a sad smile before handing over to her the flag which was previously on Ian’s coffin.
Kimberly stared at it for a minute, tracing her fingers on the fabric before breaking down in tears. Why aren’t these people blaming her for what happened? Why did they believe the story that some wild animals killed their son and his friends? She doesn’t deserve their understanding, not one bit.
Mr. Gareth hugged Kimberly, whispering soothing words in her ear. She wished she was as strong as him. He was broken, she could obviously see it, but he wasn’t crying, even though it was his son who got killed. He still comforted her like she was Ian’s only family, making her feel all the more guilty.
Ian’s mom was an entirely different story. She was hospitalized after she heard the news of her son’s death. She wasn’t supposed to be present at his funeral, but she insisted on attending because, she wanted to see her son for the very last time.
Some distance from Kimberly sat Joanne, Ian’s mom, in a wheelchair, still in the state of shock. Kimberly can never forgive herself for causing this much pain to Ian’s family and the other families involved.
“Thank you.” she managed to mutter, after pulling away from the hug.
Tony nodded in reply and was about walking away when she stopped him.
“Um… I- I hope Joanne forgives me someday.” she stuttered, stealing a glance at Joanne, who was now being comforted by Ian’s eldest brother.
Kimberly knew Joanne was mad at her for what happened, since she didn’t even acknowledge her when she went to pay her a visit at the hospital. She knows she deserves more than what she was getting, but she couldn’t help it, that small action by Joanne hurts her so much.
Mr. Gareth stared at his wife for a few seconds. There was pity, hurt and regret in his eyes. Kimberly could tell he was going through the same thing as her, partially blaming himself for the unfortunate incident because, he was the one who convinced Kimberly into agreeing to go on that trip.
He turned his attention back to Kimberly and took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze.
“Believe me, she isn’t mad at you.” he assured her before walking away, to go to his family.
Kimberly watched Ian’s family until they left the cemetery, but that didn’t stop her from staring at their retreating cars, until they were no longer in sight. A gentle touch on her arm brought her back to reality.
“Ready to leave?” her dad asked in a calm voice.
She couldn’t trust her voice, so she nodded in reply instead. He then entwined their fingers as they walked out of the cemetery.
#
It’s been two months since Kimberly returned home and it hasn’t been easy for her. There hasn’t been a night where she had a proper sleep, as she usually wakes up in the middle of the night, drenched in her own sweat, as a result of her constant nightmares.
Currently, Kimberly lives with her dad, as she couldn’t continue living in Ian’s house. The memories there were too much and too real, both the good and the bad ones. She couldn’t deal with the guilt and torment, so she moved out of the house and gave it up for sale and moved back in with her dad.
She resumed work at the hospital, to the dismay of her father. He didn’t think she was mentally and emotionally ready to resume work after what she went through. He felt she needed professional help, since she was constantly having nightmares, but Kimberly had insisted that she was fine and didn’t need the help of a professional.
After much plea and persuasion, she was able to convince her dad that professional help wasn’t what she needed, what she needed was to resume work, as that would be the best way to heal. At least that way, she wouldn’t be moping around and drowning herself in her own sorrow, but that wasn’t entirely true. Kimberly didn’t want to see a psychologist because, she didn’t want anyone concluding that she was crazy.
Besides, who in the world would believe that werewolves exists? So, it was best she kept her experience and nightmares to herself. She was glad her dad eventually gave up and let her work.
So, here she was in the hospital, getting ready to perform surgery on a patient who was involved in a ghastly accident. They rushed the patient into the ER and placed him under anesthetic. They began the surgery, with Kimberly as the head doctor when they were certain that the patient’s blood pressure and heartbeat was regular.
Three hours into the surgery, Kimberly caught a glimpse of a figure standing by the door of the operating room. She shrugged it off and took it as nothing serious, but something deep down kept telling her to turn around. She tried fighting against that strong urge by concentrating on the surgery she was performing, but it was too strong to ignore, so she took a chance and stared at the door and to her utmost surprise, Roy was standing there, dressed in black.
“Roy?!” she gasped in extreme shock, totally forgetting about the surgery.
The rest of the doctors and nurses tried to get her attention, wondering what she was staring at. Kimberly was lost in her own world. She kept staring at Roy with tear filled eyes. She couldn’t believe this. She never thought or even dreamt she’d ever see him again, at least not in this life.
She was too excited and in shock that she didn’t realize that he wasn’t leaving the spot where he stood to embrace her, like he would normally do, as a sign that everything was okay and that she was safe.
“Dr Wright, Dr Wright. We need you here. We’re losing the patient!” one of the doctors yelled, snapping her out of her trance.
“I’m sorry.” she quietly apologized, after realizing that she had abandoned the surgery.
As the doctors were trying to stabilize the patient’s heartbeat, blood pressure and blood loss, Kimberly stole a glance at the door, praying that Roy was still there, probably waiting for her to finish the surgery, but to her disappointment, he wasn’t there.
She glanced at the glass window, hoping to see him there or catch a glimpse of him leaving, but there was no sign indicating that someone came or just left the operating room area. She sighed in disappointment, realizing that she was once again imagining things.