Chapter Six: One Year's Passing
I woke up in our room in the palace the next night. It's your room now. Jordan's gone. "Jordan..." Do something to take your mind off of her...No, she was your best friend. You can't. "Jak! Keira!" They came running into the room. "Tiffany...Are you alright?" Keira asked in that sweet voice that would normally make me feel better. It was a wonder why she wasn't still crying. You could tell they were, though. Jak's young-looking face had faded into that of a strong old man's, only making me feel worse. His wife's face was red from all of her sobbing, and her hair was messy. "Yeah, I guess."
"Tiffany? Are you sure?"
"Yes." Keira shook her head and sat down at the edge of my bed. She pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead. To Jordan she was like a sister. To me, she's like a mother. No wonder Michael turned out so sweet. Daxter and his family entered the room. "There's sleeping beauty!" he said in a half-hearted voice, attempting to make me feel better. Nice try, Dax. But I don't think it's gonna' work. Tess and Bram came behind him, Bram in her arms. The poor babies didn't care that their parents offered them new toys or nice things. They wanted their friend back, and so did I.
"Where's Torn? And Ashlynn?"
"They're back in Spargus. They were the only ones strong enough to..." Jak stopped short. I knew what he was talking about. They went back for Jordan. "Wh-when's her f-funeral going to be held?" struggled Tess. With every word she hugged her son closer. "This Saturday," answered Keira. She leaned closer to Jak. "She'll be buried...underneath Mar's Memorial." Jordan...buried. Those were the last words that I had ever hoped to hear in my life. For all of the years that I had known Jordan, I was hoping that we would die together so neither one of us would have to deal with the pain and suffering. But she left before me, and now it was time for the pain. I wasn't the only one who would suffer, though. Suddenly, without even knowing why, I giggled. Jak looked hurt. "What the hell are you laughing at?"
"I guess I was just thinking of this one time...that, Jordan and I, we were at this party for my twelvth birthday. We were going up the stairs and she decided to hop a few, and she fell..." Jak smiled. "She really did that?"
"Mm hm, a scratch down her back and a bruise on her head." A scratch on her back...that's what killed her. I stopped laughing. Daxter jumped up on my bed next to Jak. "She sounded like a real clutz back then."
"Yeah, she was really clumsy. Once, she broke her wrist while standing on her tippy toesbalancing on a stool." Everyone around me laughed out loud at the memory that only Jordan, her family, and I knew about. "Heh, heh! Jordi silly!"squeaked little Bram, suddenly awakening to all the comotion. "Where's the other babies?"
"They're asleep, Bram just misses Jordan."
"Jordi," he whined, forgetting all about the funny memory. Tess gave him a loving squeeze to let him know that everything was going to be okay. But everything wasn't going to be okay, not for me at least. I lay back down on the pillow. "Hey, guys, I'm going to get some sleep. Big meeting tomorrow."
"Look, Tiff, you don't have to go..."
"No really, Jordan would've gone no matter what was wrong with her." With that, I closed my eyes and fell asleep...
"Jordan! Come here!" Jordan came running across the street. "Check this out!" I tapped my hand on the glass window and the puppy on the other side lifted his head. It barked at us, happy to once again come visit him/ "Poor thing, nobody will buy him because of the nick in his ear!" She placed her hand on the glass. "Wait here..." Jordan went inside. A few minutes later, she came back out the the little Crocadog with the nick in its ear in her arms. "Jordan! You know Jak won't let you keep it!"
"I know." She put the puppy down. "Who said he has to know?" The little puppy ran around her, thankful that she freed him from the pet shop. I shook my head. This'll never work. "Jordan, do you remember what happened the last time you got a pet?"
"I don't think so..."
"Daisy? Shaggy? Bunny Fou Fou? Chance? Ceasar? Ben Hermie?"
"Ben Hermie wasn't even mine!"
"But he belonged to your family!" Out of the corner of my eye I could see the little puppy running off. "Look, what's the worst that could happen?"
SKREEEE! BA-DOOM! Jordan turned around and screamed in horror. "OH MY GOD!" The little pup had tried to cross the street and got hit by a low flying cruiser. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Well, look at it this way; at least you didn't get attached to it!"
"Agh!" I awoke with a start. "Aw, man...It was just a dream." The memory was funny, but it was still painful to think of Jordan at the moment. If I have another dream, I'll stay awake...
"Hurry up, Jordan, we're gonna' be late!" She ran up the steps of the palace and climbed inside the elevator. "I can't believe that Michael's already two!"
"Yeah..." Her voice trailed off. "What's wrong?"
"Karson would've been four today. I promised him that I would attend all of his birthdays."
"Don't worry, it'll be okay. Let's gocelebrate with Michael. At least you're celebrating somebody's birthday! Just pretend it's Karson blowing out those candles!" She nodded. When we got to the top, Mikey was playing with his new toy cruiser. "Varooom!" he growled, making the cruiser run into a fake dog. Jordan knelt beside him. "Now that's not very nice!" she scolded,and picked up a littled doll and ran over it. "Pretend that's Tiffany!"
"Oh, yeah? Two can play at that game, missy!" Michael seemed confused that we were playing with his stuff, and I don't blame him. How often do you see two teenagers playing with a two year-old's toys? After awhile of teasing each other, Jak walked into theplayroom. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked. We wet down the toys and looked up innocently. "Nothing!"
"That's it!" I sat up, preparing to stay up the rest of the night. Suddenly, I began to feel drowsy again. Slowly but surely, I fell asleep against my own will...
"No, these are her death requests. Miss Jordan died at exactly twelve thirty four this morning. I'm so sorry." He turned and walked away, leaving the papers on the bench.
What did he just say? Mikey, Nick, and Bram stopped dancing. "J-Jordi?" stammered Bram. Nicky and Michael looked at each other, then back at their parents. "Daddy? What's happened? Where's Jordi?" Jak's face was pale and his eyes were fighting back tears. "Sh-she's...dead..."
"Dead?" The infants didn't understand death. They were too young, it was only natural for them to be confused. Torn stood up. "Oh my God," he whispered, covering his eyes with one hand. Ashlynn threw herself into his other arm hugging him around his muscular body. Keira, unable to contain herself, sobbed into Jak's shoulder, who quickly hugged her and set his chin on her head. The babies ran to their parents and wailed. Jordan slammed his fist into a stone pillar. "DAMN IT! I SHOULD'VE RUN FASTER!" He leaned his head up against it and choked back tears and held back sniffs. And me, I couldn't tell what was happening. I was busy sorting things out. It happened all so quickly...
Disease...Freezing...Jordi...Forms...Died...This morning...Sorry...Dead. "Jordan..." Suddenly, three nurses wheeled a stretcher out into the waiting room. "JORDAN!" Everyone but the mothers and their sons crowded around the white sheet covered Jordan. Sadly, one of the nurses pulled back the sheet revealing my best friends face. Her eyes were open. They were no longer the bright green emeralds that I once knew and loved. Instead, they were mint green bottomless pits. Her lips were white, and so was her entire face. The brown locks of hair that dangled in her face all the time were pulled back, showing her pasty forehead. The nurse covered her back up and began to roll her away.
"NO! SHE WOULD HAVE LIVED IF YOU HAD TRIED HARDER! YOU BASTARDS! YOU SICK, HEARTLESS BASTARDS! YOU!" I pointed at the he-Jordan. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU DIDN'T GET TO HER QUICK ENOUGH! JAK! YOU LET HER GO OUT THERE! YOU LET HER BATTLE RECKLESSLY! NOW JORDAN'S DEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME! DEAD, DEAD, DEAD!" I threw myself on the floor as everything went black. The only things I could hear were the faint sobs of Keira, Ashlynn, and Tess along with their sons.
"AGHHHHH!"I screamed, hurling the pillow at the wall. Keira came running in. She cradled my tiny body against her as I sobbed. Just go away, Jordan! If you're going to die just leave me alone! I knew that Jordan would never leave me alone. She wouldn't leave anyone alone. Not for the rest of our lives. For the rest of our lives... Poor Keira cried with me. Soon, the whole palace was awake. Everyone was in my room. Crying. Together. Everyone except him...
"Where is he?" They looked confused. "Who?"
"Jordan!" Jak lowered his head. "You see, we would have been able to let him go if Jordan had survived. But since he didn't really save her, we had to place him under arrest."
"Then I will visit him tomorrow. There's something that he needs to tell Jordan."
