Missing You

Someone was knocking at the door. The sound was faint at first, just a sound in the dream she was having, but the knock came again, louder, and she was roused from her sleep. It was one-twenty in the morning. She threw the covers back and hurried to the door, not taking the time to turn on the lights as she hurried through the house.

She didn't even think to ask who it was, her mind still fogged with sleep. She opened the door only a couple of inches, until she took note of the officers outside, then opened it wider.

"Yes?" she asked, confused.

"Mrs. Michaels?" the younger officer inquired.

"Yes." She confirmed.

The older officer, perhaps more rehearsed in this type of home visit, stepped forward. "Mrs. Michaels, I am Officer Dunham. I'm here about your husband."

Brandon? Brandon had gone to watch a game at his friend's house. She remembered. He wasn't in the bed when she had been awakened.

"Is he ok?" she asked, suddenly full of dread.

"I'm afraid not, ma'am." Officer Dunham said, solemnly. "He was in an accident tonight."

Suddenly she was very awake. Brandon. In an accident. "What kind of accident? How bad is he hurt?"

"A car accident, ma'am. I'm afraid...I'm afraid your husband passed away."

Carrie Michaels didn't hear anything else. She had fainted.

Brandon's funeral came and went. Well wishers, family she hadn't seen in months or even years, and friends visited, gave their condolences, and left. Within a few days, she was for the most part, alone. Tears would no longer come. They had all been cried out. Her Brandon was gone. He had left her.

The daffodils he had stopped and picked her on the roadside the morning he died were still in the vase on the kitchen counter. They were her favorite flower, and he had picked them for her that morning just to see a smile on her face. She dared not throw them away. She looked at them daily, withered and sad looking, just like she felt. There was something comforting about them being there.

Brandon had been the love of her life. They had met in college, dated and married two days after they graduated. In the six years they had been married, they had never been apart for more than a day. They had been the couple other couples were envious of.

"It's not fair!" she screamed into the silence. One glass of wine too many, maybe, but she found herself screaming as if he could hear her. "Why? Why did you leave me? It's not fair Brandon! You left me! You left me all alone and now I have no one! I can't do this! Do you hear me? Are you listening to me? Didn't you love me enough not to die?!"

Another knock stopped her screaming fit. She felt slightly embarrassed, knowing whoever was outside had probably hear her. She stood, picking herself up off of the floor where she had been sitting, huddled in the corner of the room.

The knock was louder now. Maybe someone wanting to see if she was ok. It was insistent. Anger struck her as she reached for the door...anger and being interrupted in her misery, anger at Brandon, and anger at herself for being angry. She swung the door open. No one was there. She gasped anyway. The entire front yard was covered in daffodils. She stepped out onto the porch and she knew. He had heard. Brandon heard, and he missed her, too.