Chapter 4

Her blaring cell phone woke Jasina the following morning, her head pounding from drinking heavily after she arrived home. She ended up killing another bottle of wine along with a full case of beer, trying to numb the pain in her heart somehow. She reached over and unplugged her phone, still in her dress from the graduation, trying to wake up long enough to answer the call.

"Hello?" She gruffly said, feeling like a mach truck had run her down going one hundred miles an hour, maybe even faster. She immediately woke up when she heard Trish sniffling on the other hand, eyes popping open. "Trish honey, what's wrong? What is it?"

"Sweetheart...I- I don't know how to tell you this..." Trish began, her voice shaking and sniffled again, sounding like she had been and was still crying, which she had and still was. "Randy made it to Australia, Jasina. He booked a charter flight to take him into the outback and...and..." Trish took a deep, quivering breath. "Jasina, the plane went down. There were...no survivors." She gripped the phone so tightly her entire hand went numb, hardly believing what she was saying, her eyes glossed over and could only imagine Jasina's reaction.

The cell phone slipped out of Jasina's hand as it hit the carpeted floor, Jasina simply sitting there with an open mouth and wide eyes, not even feeling the tears as they slid down her cheeks. She couldn't feel anything, every part of her body felt as if it was frozen solid in a block of ice. She breathed in and out heavily, the shock overtaking every part of her. Trish's screaming over the cell phone for her wasn't reaching her ears because Jasina couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything, feeling as though she was falling in this huge black hole that never had an end.

"Jasina? JASINA!" Trish shrieked, not caring whose attention she was attracting as she stared into the phone. "I'm coming over there right now if you don't pick up the phone! STEVE!"

When Trish had found out about Randy, she had called him to come be with her while she made the call to Jasina and had stepped out of the room to give her a moment's privacy. Now he came running back in. "What?!"

"I need to get to Jasina's, I think she passed out." Trish hiccupped, tears still streaming down her face.

He nodded grimly.

When Trish and Steve arrived in record time, with a waddling Trish rushing up the stairs, they discovered the door to Jasina's apartment was locked. Jasina didn't hear the knocking and just kept staring straight ahead on her bed, her hangover cured because of Randy's death. Randy was dead.

He was gone. Those beautiful blue eyes she would never stare into again, never feel his arms wrapped around her, never feel his warm lips against hers. All Jasina could do was sit there with tears streaming down her face silently, not making a single sound, everything crumbling around her.

Steve did try getting management to come up and unlock the door, but no one could be reached. So...at his wife's urging, he kicked in the door, stepping aside before he got plowed to hell and back by his pregnant woman who was moving a bit too fast for his liking, still crying, and in a panic. If she went into labor any minute now, he would not have been surprised in the slightest.

"Slow down, Tri-" He shut up when she threw him a deadly look, the tears staining her face no way diminishing the effect.

Jasina didn't even flinch or blink when her bedroom door was tossed open by her pregnant best friend, not looking up or acknowledging the presence. It was only when Trish approached her and placed her hands on her shoulders that Jasina finally snapped out of her shock, slowly locking tearful teal eyes on brown. She placed her hands on Trish's and gripped them tightly, her bottom lip trembling and shook her head before finally breaking down, crying her heart out. The shock had worn off and all Jasina could do was bury her face in Trish's shoulder, crying turning to heart wrenching sobbing.

Steve stayed out in the living room, listening to Jasina's sobs and felt his heart twisting violently for her, knowing there was no way Trish was going to be able to soothe this ache for her friend. He had no idea what to do other than stay out of the way when he wasn't needed and be there when he was. He was giving serious thought to calling Mark, though what Mark could do was beyond him.

Trish just kept rocking Jasina back and forth on the bed, holding her close, crying silently, not knowing what to do.

~!~

Gary was confused to arrive at the office, only to find out Trish had rushed out in a hurry with Steve, his eyes widening when one of the co-workers explained to him why. Randy was dead?! He swallowed hard when Arielle walked through the door at that moment and immediately went to her, seeing the sparkle in her emerald eyes.

"We have to get to your Mom's, Arie." He said grimly, grasping her hand. "Something happened..."

"Why? What happened?" Arielle asked while rushing with Gary to his car, blinking.

Gary couldn't tell Arielle what happened, still in somewhat shock himself. "Let's just get to your Mom's first and find out what's going on." He stated, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, plastering a smile on his face. Gary wondered if he should call Mark, deciding he would once they got to Jasina's and Arielle was out of hearing distance. "I'm sure everything is fine, baby doll." He hoped anyway.

"You're lying, I can tell when you're lyin' Gary, so stop lyin' and tell me what the hell is going on." Arielle demanded, knowing from the way his face was almost stark white there was something seriously wrong. "Is it my Mom? Is she okay?"

"That's just it, I don't know if what I heard at the office is the truth. Your Mom is fine..." Physically anyway, but if what Gary heard was reality, she definitely wasn't going to be fine mentally or emotionally. He was still trying to wrap his mind around it and saw the worried look on Arielle's face, watching her pull her cell phone out. "Who are you calling, baby doll?" He swallowed hard when she mumbled 'Dad', pressing the call button and inwardly groaned.

Mark had no idea why Arielle was calling him this early, she was supposed to be at work. Hell, HE was supposed to be at work and was on his way out the door just as soon as he fastened his jeans. He was running a bit late.

"Darlin', somethin' wrong?"

"I think so, we're on our way to Mom's. Gary won't tell me what happened, but he said it was fine and he was lyin'."

"I'm on my way darlin'."

"Did you HAVE to tell him I was lying to you?" Gary demanded in a groan, ignoring the glare Arielle flashed him and sighed heavily. "I'm not gonna get you upset if it's nothing, Arie. That's why I wanna go to your Mom's first to find out exactly what is going on."

Why couldn't she just listen to reason? Now her old man was probably going to crack him in the face for lying to his baby girl. Gary didn't see any of this going down well and turned the corner that lead to Jasina's apartment building, his heart rate suddenly speeding up a little.

What if Randy was dead?

What if everything he heard at the office was the awful truth?

It couldn't be, it just couldn't.

If there was nothing going on, then he shouldn't have upset her by saying something had happened and they had to go to her Mom's without telling her WHAT he had heard at the office. At this exact moment, Arielle figured it kind of served him right.

Mark skipped his truck and went with the Harley, it would be faster and it was hard to weave a large, extended cab truck in and out of clustered traffic. Whatever had happened, he had a feeling it was bad and accelerated, not caring if he got pulled over. It'd be one hell of a chase because he wasn't stopping.

When Gary arrived with Arielle, Steve met them at the doorway, the look in his blue eyes sorrow-filled. "Hey kids." He gruffly greeted, not even able to be upbeat like he normally was in a moment like this.

"Uncle Steve, what's going on?" Arielle demanded, not liking the look on her godfather's face, feeling something bubbling in the pit of her stomach. "Please...you're scaring me and so is Gary. What happened? Is Mom okay?"

Just by the look in Steve's eyes, Gary knew it was the truth and felt tears instantly sting his eyes, having to step away to look out at the parking lot, feeling sick to his stomach.

"Steve, tell me what's going on?" Arielle demanded again.

When he just shook his head and cleared his throat, squinting to make sure those were tears she seen sparkling in his blue eyes and knew then whatever Gary hadn't told her was...something she didn't want to know. Her stomach began to do flip-flops, her breakfast threatening to resurface. When she looked at Gary and seen his condition, she felt tears pricking her eyes.

"Please, someone tell me what-" She jumped when she heard the Harley screeching and turned to see her Dad pulling into the parking lot.

Mark dismounted and caught her when she came running to him, hugging her tightly. "What's goin' on? Is yer Mom alright?"

"I- I don't know..."

Steve followed along with Gary, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder, knowing he was very close with Randy. He looked at his best friend and blinked the tears away, rubbing his bald head, something he did when he was extremely nervous or upset. In this case, he was both.

"Arie, why don't you go in the apartment with Gary so I can talk to your Dad for a sec." He suggested calmly, nodding at Gary when Arielle refused to leave her father's arms.

"Arie, come on baby doll." He sighed when she snuggled further against her Dad, her grip tightening on him and looked at Steve helplessly. They couldn't tell her like this, especially not out here in the open. "Please Arielle..."

"He's comin' with me." Arielle said firmly, knowing whatever was going on up there, she was going to need her Daddy and not ashamed to admit it. "Is Aunt Trish up there?" She asked, looking at Steve.

Steve nodded helplessly, glancing back towards the apartment and then sighed when it became clear Arielle was giving up her grip on her Mark. "Alright, let's...let's go up."

Everyone was acting like someone had died... and it hit Mark like a ton of bricks. He had to actually stop just because the realization had floored him. "Steve...it's not her, is it?"

Steve shook his head again.

Gary held onto Arielle as they trekked into the apartment, Steve closing the door behind him and sat down on the couch, looking up waiting for the bomb to drop.

"Please someone tell me..." Arielle's ears perked up when she heard the sobbing coming from her mother's room and immediately flew off the couch down the hallway, stopping in the doorway. "Trish..."

Trish looked up with tears sliding down her cheeks, not able to stop them and knew instantly nobody had told Arielle what happened yet. "Oh Arie...I-I'm so sorry..." She whispered softly, looking down at Jasina.

"Mommy?"

Jasina heard that and instantly looked up at her daughter, extending her arms silently, holding Arielle tightly against her while smoothing her hair back. "I-It's alright, Arie...It's gonna be okay, I promise..."

Mark followed silently, staying out of the bedroom and leaned against the hallway wall, looking in. A very pregnant Trish was sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands while Jasina rocked Arielle back and forth, hearing Arie asking what was going on. The look on Jasina's face...he had to look away, staring at Steve who looked like he had no idea what to do.

Gary dropped down onto the couch, staring at the floor without actually seeing it.

"Mommy, Mommy please tell me what happened...I'm scared..." Arielle pleaded in a soft voice, holding onto her mother and looked up into heartbroken glazed teal eyes, watching Jasina's bottom lip tremble. "Oh Mom..."

"She doesn't know." Jasina couldn't handle this and released Arielle instantly, needing to get out of this room as she ran out. There was no way she was breaking the news to Arielle, not about to hurt her daughter again and slammed the bathroom door behind her, flipping the lock on it. "Randy..." She whispered, clutching her chest tightly as she slid down the door, curling up into a tight ball on the bathroom floor.

"That's it, I've had enough!" Arielle snapped, standing up while wiping a few tears away from her face, staring at Trish pleadingly. "Please Trish, nobody will tell me what's going on. Please tell me!"

Trish looked from Arielle to Mark and Steve, who was also standing in the doorway, deciding she had to be the strong one in this situation. "Sit down Arielle." Jasina quietly requested, taking both of Arielle's hand in hers, trying not to start crying again as she began explaining what happened to Randy.

One minute he was against the hallway wall, staring at the bathroom doorway that Jasina had flown through. The next he had shot forward and caught his daughter when she actually fell over backwards as Trish said the very thing he had already come to know, cradling her against him. He slumped down to the floor, remaining silent when she began hitting him in silent protest.

Steve went directly to his wife, having been listening at the bathroom door...unsure of what he expected to hear.

The sound of Arielle yelling and sobbing at the same time completely shattered Gary's heart into shambles, silent tears of his own falling, knowing she needed her father right now more than him. He didn't mind. He had watched Jasina fly through the living room to the bathroom, wanting to see if she was alright but stopped himself. It wasn't his place. He didn't know what the right thing to do was at this point, still not fully believing they would never see or hear Randy again.

Trish slumped against Steve, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and felt him lift her with ease on his lap, eight months pregnant and all. "I-I wanna go home..." She whispered, knowing there was nothing more they could do for Jasina right now and looked up at her fiancé pleadingly. "I wanna see Little Stevie."

Steve nodded and carried Trish out of the apartment down to their car, hoping leaving wasn't the wrong thing to do.

Arielle cried herself to sleep, exhaustion taking over and Mark had to call Gary to come take her, unable to stand up from the Indian style position he had been sitting in with her -now fully grown- in his lap. After Gary had carried Arie to her bedroom, he gingerly pushed himself up onto his feet and stretched, knowing he should check on Jasina, but honestly, what was he going to say to her? The man she loved was dead and he couldn't even begin to imagine how that must feel, not knowing what he would do if the roles were reversed. Hesitantly, he walked over to the door and raised his fist to knock, sighed and then placed his palm against the wood, closing his eyes.

Jasina just lay on the bathroom floor, staring straight ahead at the door, feeling numb from head to toe, no more tears falling. How could Randy be dead? The last thing she'd said to him...Jasina felt the guilt eating her completely alive because she honestly thought they would work things out when he returned. Now he was burned to ashes from a plane crash that was out of his control...all because he'd chosen work over family.

Lying on the bathroom floor wasn't doing anything for her besides making her hurt further, but Jasina couldn't move an inch, the comfort of the cool tile floor welcoming. She had no idea Mark was on the other side of the door, feeling her pain radiating through it and probably never would. First she lost Mark and now Randy...Jasina didn't know if how much more she could take before completely giving up.

Deciding the best thing for her would not be her ex-husband coming in and trying to console her after just hearing about her boyfriend's death, Mark walked out to the living room, looking around the apartment. He noticed there were a lot more pictures on the wall than there had been when she hadn't been dating Randy and instinctively knew Randy had been the reason for the upsurge, knowing that the man had basically been living there. Pictures of Jasina and Randy, Randy and Arielle, scenery, the three of them...they had been a family and it was all around him, visual evidence. Mark could only drop down onto the couch, staring at a photograph of the couple, obviously very happy with the way they were smiling at each other, not even looking towards the camera.