The Final Goodbye © By: J.L. Jacobs

Chapter Thirty: The Final Goodbye

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Travis was woken up out of a very sound sleep when the roosters began to crow at the dawn's first light. He had been dreaming of Sophia and it was still fresh in his mind. They had been walking hand in hand down the busy city sidewalks of Dallas and there were crowds of people walking past them in both directions. A few times he lost grip of her hand when someone walking by would jostle her. He would have to walk much faster in order to catch up to her but eventually clasped her hand within his own again. She'd look over and lovingly smile at him and he would smile back. They were so happy. Then the crowds of people became even thicker and the next time she got jostled away and his hand lost contact with hers, he became strangely panicked. He called out her name several times while looking all around him. There were people everywhere but he just couldn't seem to find Sophia. Then he could hear her call out to him, "Travis? Travis? Where are you?" He yelled out to her, "I am here Sophia! Where are you?" More people walked by; they bumped into him and his panic began to rise even more. He needed to find his wife! He needed to hold her hand! He knew he shouldn't have let go like that! Where was she? Finally, he caught sight of her as she walked right by him coming from the opposite direction. He noticed she was wearing a dress of the brightest white. He turned around and reached his arm out so that she could grab his hand but she was walking further and further away from his reach. "Sophia!" he called out desperately, "Wait! Don't leave me! Grab on to my hand!" She smiled back at him with a look of pure love in her wide eyes. "Goodbye Travis!" she called out to him as she once again became lost in the throng of people, "I love you always and forever. This shall be our final goodbye." Travis laid there breathing heavily and could feel that his body was covered in a thin layer of sheen sweat. The dream had seemed so real that his heart began to pound from deep within his chest. It had truly unsettled him! For some reason he couldn't get that damned dream out of his head. It was as if he could see it all over again so clearly in his mind. He rolled from his back over on his side so that he could face his sleeping wife. As he looked down at her, he noticed the small smile on her lips. She looked so very beautiful and serenely peaceful. He bent his head down to gently kiss her forehead; it had felt cold upon the touch of his lips. Almost too cold. His eyes widened as he placed his hand over her chest. After several seconds he realized that he could feel no heartbeat. "No." he whispered frantically, "No. No.....! Sophia. Wake up. Please darlin'! Sophia?" He gently shook her by the shoulder but there was no movement. Her eyes remained closed. He knew in that moment that she was gone. Lost to him until the day he died when they could once again be reunited in Heaven. Travis couldn't get that bloody dream out of his mind as he could distinctly recall her voice saying to him, "Goodbye Travis! I love you always and forever. This shall be our final goodbye." He sat straight up in bed as a tremendous feeling of grief consumed his body. He began crying out as his body heaved with his sobs of despair. No! He wasn't ready for this! Not so soon! The doctors were supposed to tell him when it was getting closer! They never said anything! He wasn't prepared for this. Not yet. He didn't even get to tell her goodbye! He felt cheated in that moment. Robbed of the time he thought they still had left with each other. Only hours before they had made love! He rolled over onto his side once more and covered his arms over her cold body as he held onto her tightly. "Oh my God Sophia. I am not ready for this. Please, come back to me!" She was so damned cold! Travis started to feel as if he couldn't breathe as his tears choked up from inside of him. His throat was painfully constricted. "Oh my love." he cried out hoarsely. He had no idea how long he had laid there like that as he held on to Sophia's lifeless body.

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Travis's cries of despair, intermingled with the screams of Madeline, had alerted Mrs. Cox who was down in the kitchen getting ready to prepare the breakfast meal. She ran upstairs as fast as her ample body would allow. Mikey was standing out in the hallway and his eyes were wide with fright. Seconds later, Hope came out of the room and looked over at Mrs. Cox with tears in her own eyes, "Why is my Papa crying like that Mrs. Cox? It's scaring me." Mrs. Cox stood there as she became instantly overwhelmed with emotion. She held out her arms so that the children could come to her. They ran over and she held the children at her bosom for many moments while she silently sobbed. Baby Madeline was screaming her little heart out all the while from inside the girls' bedroom. More than likely she needed to be fed and was also alarmed over hearing Travis's cries of despair.