CAT'S POV

After breakfast, we packed a beach bag. We'd leave for La Digue, another island at about noon. The boat ride there would take about thirty minutes. Matt smiled at me warmly as he put on his aviators - I was surprised to see that they weren't glued to his head - and I couldn't help but grin. He was sweet. Really.

Just as we were about to leave our little bungalow, the phone rang. "Cat, are you picking up?" Matt said. Things were okay between us. Pretty good actually. I was both excited and anxious to see where this was heading, seeing as we still had ten and a half days on the Seychelles and another night and almost a full day in Dubai.

I felt the warmth rush through my body as I thought about this morning, how he'd woken me with a gentle kiss and how we'd made out like teenagers, not necessarily heading towards sex. I was in a great mood when I picked up the phone, but it abruptly changed.

It was Zack. He was sobbing so hard I could barely make out what he said.

When the call ended, I sunk onto the bed, not sure if what I'd just heard was real. My eyes practically stared holes into the air and I just couldn't realize, couldn't get into my head what Zack said.

"Cat, what's wrong?" Matt sat down next to me and wrapped his arms around me. What's wrong? I don't know what is right. I'm here having a good time and my best friend at home is miserable. Why did I agree on this trip in the first place?

"Cat?" Calmly, I replied, "Matt, it's Jimmy. It's bad. They think he's dying."


Somehow, I was there. I understood what was happening. I understood that Matt talked to the clerk, that he called the travel cancellation insurance, that he kept talking about his dying best friend, but somehow, I was somewhere else, too. I was numb, like on really strong sedatives. All my memories of Jimmy seemed so much more real than what was going on right now.

"Cat, you got everything?" I nod. Jimmy and I are sitting on the gym's roof top, smoking weed. It's a few days before I'd break up with Matt, and I'm talking to Jimmy about my plans.

"You know, Cat, do what makes you happy. Maybe you're too young to know what love is. Maybe we all are. So many never get to experience real love at all. Maybe you didn't fall out of love, maybe you just met at a screwed up time in your life. You know, atoms and shit. They fall apart, but if they belong together, they'll always find a way to fucking be together."

Is he right? About me and Matt? About some people never getting to feel real love? He probably never will, I think, and that realization makes me shiver. Somehow, I feel bad for him because of that particular reason. It is a strange coincidence, I find, that just mere days before this he told me how he wants to feel love and he just can't....

"All passengers for Seychelles Air flight E17 please proceed to gate two. We hope you had nice trip to Seychelles and wish you pleasant flight." As I board, I think about the Seychellois' accent, and how most of them almost never use articles. It bugs me.

"We kindly inform you that this is a non-smoking flight. Under United Arab Emirates state law, you will be fined up to twenty thousand Dirhams for smoking on board," a monotonous computer voice informs us.

Jimmy and I are walking through the dark streets of Detroit one night after a concert, back then when the guys weren't famous. He excitedly talks about the club we're heading to as a dark hooded figure approaches us and threatens us with a knife. He wants money.

Never in my life have I felt this scared, not even when Dave tried to kill me and hit me for days. Strangely, at the same time, I have never felt so protected. It is as if I'm in a bubble, invulnerable and invincible. I know that Jimmy is there, and that he would give his life for me. It is a strange connection we feel in this very moment.

Jimmy punches the robber in the face and the guy stabs him in the stomach once before running away. He crumples like an empty bag of potatoes. His blood hypnotizes me as it glitters in the dark alley, only lit by a bunch of neon lights. Please. Let him be okay.

In the ambulance, he smiles. He says he feels no pain and everything is going to be alright. He says he's just glad I'm okay. The very next day, Jimmy performs in Chicago.


MATT'S POV

Finally, we arrived in Dubai. Immediately after the plane touched the ground, I switched on my phone and dialed Zack's number. After the very first ring, he picked up. "Matt! Are you in Dubai now?" He whispered. "Yeah, are you in the hospital?" "Yeah. They know why he broke down. His kidney failed. You know, all his organs are too small anyway due to this heart thing he got, right?" Oh God. Organ failure. This doesn't seem good. "Yeah."

Cat and I walked to the next gate. I losely entwined our fingers and she just let it happen, as if it wasn't special at all. In fact, she seemed like it bugged her, like I was taking a blood sample or leading her into her prison cell on death row. Maybe I'm expecting too much, I thought, she's too busy thinking about Jimmy. But I thought I could expect more than this...

We were boarding our next flight soon. Meanwhile, Zack continued, "Well, they're kinda surprised to see that he's got only one functioning kidney. I mean, had. The other one's not working. It either never did or was damaged in a fight or something. They're just performing a dialysis, but he's weak. Too weak they say. His heart's bad, too. They're thinking about stopping it, it's beating too fast."

In the end, he sniffed. God, Jimmy... He was my best friend. My best fucking friend. And now he was dying? "Zack, is there a chance he's..." I didn't dare finish. "It's slim, but yes. The bad thing is that they don't have a clue what's happening. They only just now discovered the kidney thing."

"So, what happened, actually?" I asked. "Dude, he just went outside and said he wasn't feeling well, he didn't drink the whole night, maybe one beer or so... And then he just sat down and passed out."

"Listen, Vee, take care. We're boarding now. It's taking 18 hours. We'll call you when we land so you can give us a brief update. We're coming. Tell him we're coming, I said as I fought back the tears. Cat's hand gently squeezed mine. Have we been holding hands the whole time? "Tell him we're coming," I repeated, "I know he can hear you, even when they say he can't." I didn't believe he could, but somehow I just needed to hear myself say it.

"What's happening?" Cat asked. I pulled her into a hug and deeply inhaled her scent. She just let it happen. Somehow, it calmed me down. "It's alright, Cat. It's alright. He'll be alive when we come, I just know it." Who am I shitting? I don't even believe it myself. "He'll make it," I lied and it sounded as if I needed to convince myself.

She nodded. While she stared right through me, I wondered what would happen if I kissed her now. I felt incredibly selfish, but I knew I needed one last kiss. I knew when we got home, this whole magic would be gone. We'd never know what we would have become. Ever. "Cat," I said, and for a second she snapped out of her trance.

I used my index finger to move her head so she was facing me, then put my arm back around her where it had been before. She looked so... expressionless. I took a deep breath and then closed the gap between our lips. She didn't pull away, but she didn't really kiss me back either. I moved my lips against hers, tasting every fiber of her. She just let it happen. Her eyes were closed and her arms around me, but her lips didn't move in sync.

I pulled away as our flight was called and we boarded. Cat stared out of the window, obviously lost in her own little world.Maybe I would be able to deal with this, I thought, but not with two and a half heartbreaks all at once. It was too much for me. I lost Val, I was losing Jimmy forever and I was losing this beautiful thing with Cat all together.

The plane took off and I cradled my head in my hands and cried.

Notes

Well, didn't see that one coming, did you?

ACTION is coming up!