The Last Night

I picked up the phone to call Jordan. I didn’t know what else to do. “I can’t stand this any longer,” I said.

He seemed to understand what I was feeling but he didn’t know the half of it. “Do you need me to come get you?”

“No.” But the second the word escaped my lips, I knew it wasn’t true. But I didn’t want him to see me like this. Tears in my eyes and blood dripping from my wrist, he couldn’t see me like this.

I turned on the water to wash away the blood. “Mariah, what are you doing?” He seemed suspicious. He knew I’d done it before.

“Getting some water,” I lied. It was true in a way but I wasn’t going to drink it.

“Make sure to breathe. And be careful. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know what there is to tell. I’ll be fine. But look, I have to go.” The silence on the other end was followed by a sigh I knew only to be Jordan. “I love you.”

“You just take care of yourself, okay?” He seemed worried still.

“Yeah, I will,” I said, not meaning it at all. I hung up the phone.

But Jordan didn’t trust me. He came over, sneaking in through the back door. When Jordan found me, I was unconscious on the bathroom floor.

When I awoke, I found myself in an ambulance with Jordan by my side. I tried to speak but he shushed me. “They don’t know. They’re gone.” He was talking about my parents. Apparently they’d gone off drunk somewhere. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“You gave us quite a scare little lady,” said the man next to me. He must’ve been the one who’d loaded me into the ambulance. “You cut yourself pretty deep. We weren’t sure you were going to make it.”

“I’m not going to let you stay there,” Jordan said. “It’s too much for you to take.” He held my hand, careful not to touch my wrist.

I looked him in the eyes and I could tell he meant it wholeheartedly. I smiled at him. And I knew I’d never be alone again, tonight was the last night.