THE CRACK OF rocks falling jarred Kaylan awake. Her bruised body resettled on the floor, aching in protest. She’d fallen asleep. She couldn’t do that. She shook Sarah Beth.
“Sarah Beth? Bubbles, you’ve got to wake up.”
Nothing. The shifting of rocks continued. Another aftershock?
“Hello?”
“Kaylan?” It was Abraham. Sweet, strong Abraham. The teen’s voice shot hope through Kaylan.
“Help! We’re in here.”
She shook Sarah Beth again. The room was dim and stuffy. Kaylan wondered if it was close to sunrise. She imagined the brilliant colors peeking over the Caribbean Sea. The sky remained indiscernible through the cracks in the rubble above her head—only dust and more dust. The earthquake obscured everything. The typical calming effect of the early morning hours fell flat on Kaylan’s nerves.
“Hurry, Abe! Sarah Beth’s in trouble.”
“We are hurrying, Kaylan. People are coming to help, but everyone needs help out here. So many . . . ” He stopped, and she didn’t dare ask for more. “It may take a while. The roof collapsed, and there is much debris. Hang on. We are going as fast as we can.”
Kaylan couldn’t reply. Sarah Beth didn’t have days. She didn’t have hours. She might only have minutes. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she grabbed one of the water bottles, tipping the precious liquid into her cracked mouth. Only a little. They could still be trapped for a while.
She looked at the bottle in the dim light. Life in a bottle that hadn’t been crushed. She poured some on her shirt and smoothed it over Sarah Beth’s face and lips.
“Sarah Beth, you can’t sleep. You have to wake up.”
She stirred at the gentle touch, and Kaylan risked a little more of the precious liquid.
“Kayles?” Her thin, airy voice brought tears to Kaylan’s eyes, and she blinked them back. Sarah Beth’s usual bubbly, vivacious voice filled with life and joy and excitement was fading.
“Hey, Bubbles, thanks for joining me. I was getting bored.” She sniffed back tears and wrestled her body to a hunched position, resting Sarah Beth’s head on her arm and dribbling water onto her cracked lips. Sarah Beth coughed, flecks of blood issuing from her mouth to decorate the gray stone on her ribs. Kaylan wiped her mouth with the T-shirt.
Kaylan leaned closer to hear Sarah Beth. “What time is it?”
“I think it’s almost sunrise. I’m guessing, but it isn’t quite as dark.”
Sarah Beth nodded. “I’m so cold. The sun would feel so warm. First thing I’m going to do is lay out on the beach and find an American-sized hamburger and fries.”
“With diet pink lemonade?”
“You know me.” She drew a rattled breath. “What about you, Kayles?”
“Call my family, get you fixed up. Find some chicken fingers and gravy like Mom makes. Go for a long ride in the woods across from the house.”
“Mmm, I’ll do that too.”
Rock continued to shift, and Kaylan prayed they would hurry. She didn’t know the extent of the damage, but judging from the roof hanging a precarious few inches from her head, she guessed it could be awhile. She surveyed Sarah Beth, planning how to get her out.
“Sarah Beth, if we try to lift the rock from your chest, do you think you could roll out?” Kaylan eyed her legs lying at odd angles and wondered if Sarah Beth’s spine was broken. The blood from her mouth when she coughed warned Kaylan of broken ribs and possibly a collapsed or punctured lung. She needed help faster than it was coming. Kaylan refused to think otherwise, but her medical training wrestled with her heart.
“I can’t feel my body, Kayles. Can’t move.”
Her voice cracked. “Try, Bubbles, please try.”
“Just be with me. Hold my hand?”
Kaylan felt blindly beneath the slab until she found her friend’s fingers. Icy. Tears trickled down her cheeks.
“I can’t breathe, Kayles. Don’t waste . . . your strength. They’ll get you . . . out.”
Sarah Beth’s eyes fought to stay open, and her voice receded to the faintest whisper. Kaylan rested her forehead on her friend’s. Tears flowed freely. This was good-bye. She could feel it in her soul, and yet she rejected it. How did she say good-bye to a lifetime of memories, to the most beautiful person she’d ever known?
She remembered meeting Sarah Beth again, remembered the dance recitals and the football games with her brothers. She remembered the slumber parties spying on Micah and his friends and watching old Doris Day musicals. She remembered Pap teaching Sarah Beth to ride a horse and painting their faces for football games in college. She remembered the late-night study dates, the coloring sessions for Sarah Beth’s education classes, the flash cards where Sarah Beth made up silly acronyms for the medical terms Kaylan couldn’t pronounce. She remembered graduation day. Sarah Beth had bounced in her seat, her hat tipped to the side on her curls. She had cheered and hollered as Kaylan walked across stage and then skipped to receive her own diploma. She never cared what the world thought. Living life was what she did best, and she changed people wherever she went. She made it her personal mission to spread joy and color and the abundance of life with Jesus with whomever she met.
Kaylan’s tears drenched Sarah Beth’s forehead, and sobs racked her tired body. Sarah Beth stirred again, her free hand limply brushing Kaylan’s hair.
“Remember when we first met. You’re my best friend. You always will be. Don’t cry. Don’t be mad, Kayles. I’m going to see Jesus. He’ll dance and laugh with me.” Her chest shook, and Kaylan strained to hear. “He’s life, Kayles. Even in this. Don’t be mad.” Her hand dropped with a thud on the rocks, and Kaylan knew her nerves were numb to the pain.
Rocks continued to shift, but it no longer mattered. They wouldn’t make it in time. They waited in silence as the scratch of rocks and shouts shook the air. A hole grew in the middle of the rubble, but it wouldn’t be wide enough in time. Sarah Beth drew a rattled breath, and Kaylan froze, her heart stopping.
“Kayles . . . ” And Kaylan knew. It was time. She’d never imagined this day would come. Not like this. Never like this. Life would go on without her best friend, and the thought was unbearable, unthinkable.
“Bubbles, no. You can’t leave me.” Sobs racked her body, and she shouted the words as she ran her hands through Sarah Beth’s hair and onto her cheeks. “You can’t leave. You wanted to be here. We aren’t done yet. We have to go home. You have to get your burger and go riding with me. We have to dance again. You can’t leave!” She whimpered, shaking her friend ever so gently. “They’re almost here. Hang on.”
With the little strength she had left, Sarah Beth tipped her head, her blue eyes meeting Kaylan’s. Her lips brushed Kaylan’s cheek, her blood leaving a cold trace. “I love you, Kayles. Tell my family we did good. I love them. I’m going to see Jesus. I’ll . . . save you a spot.”
She coughed. More blood spattered the rock. “Don’t be mad. Jesus . . . plan even . . . in this.”
Her chest heaved and her voice was softer than wind. “Look. The sun’s . . . beautiful this morning. Do . . . do you see it?”
Her eyes closed, and her body went limp, a smile tipping her lips as she basked in the sunshine of her last moments on earth. Kaylan wept, her tears mingling with Sarah Beth’s blood. Her back ached from bending over, and her hands cramped from holding her friend, but she didn’t care. She cradled Sarah Beth’s head, rocking back and forth.
Shouting came from outside, and a loud crack rose over Kaylan’s sobs. A beam of light appeared on Sarah Beth’s face from a hole in the debris. Her tears blinded her, and she didn’t care if she ever left the room. Sarah Beth was gone. Nothing mattered.
Abraham’s head appeared in the hole, and Kaylan wanted to rage at him for being late. She couldn’t pray, couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. Sarah Beth was gone, taking laughter, beauty, and color with her. Kaylan’s sobs joined the multitudes mourning in the streets. The color had left Haiti. Dust made ghosts of both the living and the dead.