Charlie Ever After

61

Tanner

When I woke up, I was blanketed in a haze of confusion as I looked around me, noticing the waves lapping at the shoreline. I was sitting on Mission Beach.

"What the fuck—"

"Hey, language!" I was interrupted by an all too familiar, little voice to my right.

When I looked over, Tessa was sitting right next to me.

I almost dropped dead on the spot— or maybe I was dead— regardless, when I saw my sister, I didn't know what to do other than stare at her. She still looked the same, sandy blonde hair blowing in the salty air, freckles littering her cheeks and nose.

"Tess...What..."

She just smiled at me.

"I missed you big bro." She mocked me with the factoid that I was persistent about all throughout our childhood. I was born an entire four minutes before she was.

My tears were flowing freely down my face as I threw myself at her and hugged her as tight as humanly possible.

She was solid. Not a ghost, an illusion or a figment of my imagination. She was as real as flesh and bone.

"How is this possible?" I choked.

She just innocently shrugged her shoulders, her smile never fading.

"I love you Tanner. Don't blame yourself anymore—" How did she know? "There was nothing you could've done to save me. I was already gone." Her smile wavered for a moment but it lit back up almost instantly. "I'm proud of you. I want you to be proud of yourself too. Look at all you have in front of you. You have dad and Trish and the girls." Her smile widened. I knew she always wanted younger siblings. "You've got your friends and school. You're going to be an awesome vet—" She bumped her shoulder against mine. "And that Charlie girl—" She winked at me and it was as if she was still in the body of a young girl but was speaking well beyond her years. "She's a keeper, and seeing you as happy as you've been has been all I've needed to accept this." She motioned around her.

"This is where I'm meant to be. Looking down on you guys." Her smile transformed into a sad one, as she presumably grieved the life she didn't get to live.

"Just tell everyone that I love them." She whispered against my ear as she gave me one last hug.

And when I opened my eyes again, there were tears falling down my face but I wasn't on the beach. I was laying in a bright room, and once my eyes adjusted to the bright fluorescent hue, I realized I was in a hospital room. I was hooked up to machines that were beeping in the background and for a moment I panicked until I saw Charlie's head resting against the bed next to me and registered her hand's death grip in mine.

When she felt me start to stir, she jolted up in a panic, her eyes shooting to me. "Tanner!" She nearly screamed as she threw herself at me and wrapped her arms around me.

I let out a groan in pain as she crushed against my tender abdomen.

She let out a gasp and peeled herself off of me as she muttered a million i'm sorrys.

"It's okay, baby." I tried to chuckle but it hurt too damn bad. "What happened?"

Her eyes searched mine as tears sprung to her eyes.

She choked back a sob before softly muttering, "You saved me, yet again." She had a sad smile gracing her lips and I so desperately wanted to kiss it away.

I couldn't help the guilt that overwhelmed me.

I could easily blame it on the pain meds, but I knew it was really the guilt that had built up over the past few weeks mixed with the fear I had when I saw Gavin's hands around her throat.