All is Found

2

            "Does anybody know you're here?" Thea asked breaking our silence.

            "No, I threw my phone off the bridge before I climbed over the rail." I said not meeting her eyes.

            "Do you want to call anybody?" Thea asked next.

            "No" I answered and took another sip of the bad coffee.

            "Why were you on the bridge in the first place?" Thea asked quietly.

            It wasn't like the world shattered at her question. I knew why I was up on that bridge last night. But did I want to involve anybody else in my problems? No. Especially not Thea.

            "Sometimes it feels like I'm too much of a coward to live but I'm too much of a coward to kill myself. I don't know why I'm here anymore." I said and put my head in my hands to try and will away the headache that's already forming.

            "There is a reason why you are on this earth. The fact that you were going to throw that away last night hurts my heart. Just because you are going through some things right now doesn't mean they are going to last forever." Thea offered and I sighed.

            I got up from Thea's kitchen table and made my way into the living room. The house is small but looks lived in and loved. This is a home, not just a place for her to sleep at night. Love is present in the worn couch and throw pillows. On the window ledge there are almost a dozen pictures in various sizes and frames. One picture stood out the most though. It's pushed to the back of collected group. I picked up the frame to find the glass is broken. The picture is of Thea dressed in her formal police uniform with another woman standing up against her chest in a white wedding dress.

            "Where's your wife?" I asked and turned to the officer.

            "She passed three years ago." Thea said quietly playing with her coffee mug.

            "I'm sorry for your loss." I said and looked at the picture again. Both women looked so in love.

            "You would think time would make it easier to accept but it doesn't." Thea said and stood up from the table and pour her coffee down the drain.

            "How old were you when you married?" I asked my eyes still focused on the picture.

            "21, fresh out of the academy. We were high school sweethearts." Thea said and came over to where I'm standing.

            Thea took the picture from my hands and placed it towards the back of the pictures again. I couldn't imagine the pain that she went through trying to recover from that.

            "I have to go to work in a few minutes, you can stay here as long as you need too." Thea said and put a hand on my shoulder. I just nodded and heard her walk away.

            I took my time looking around the living room while Thea was in her bedroom. Ten minutes later Thea walked out and stopped in her tracks. I got the chance to take her in in uniform. Her tactical boots made her an inch taller. The navy dress pants are perfectly pressed with her long sleeved dress shirt tucked into her pants. The tie around her neck is clearly a clip on and is a bit off center as the top button of her shirt is undone. An SPD turtle neck is sticking out of the top of her dress shirt and a beanie is in her hand.

            "I'm on shift till midnight. There is some food in the fridge, help yourself to anything in the kitchen. My cellphone number and station number is written on the top right corner of todays paper. If you need to call the station ask for Themis Ramsey." Thea said and pulled her SPD beanie over her blonde hair.

            "Themis?" I repeated the name back to her.

            "Themis is my full name. I tend to go by Thea though." Thea said and picked up her duffle bag to sling it over her shoulder.

            "Be safe Themis." I said. Themis doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely as Thea.

            "Always am" Thea said and gave me a smile before she picked up her keys and walked out the front door.

            Once again I'm alone. I sighed and sat down on the officers couch. What am I doing here? I can't stay here for long but I can't go home either. I could always go back to the bridge tonight. I think that might be the best idea I've had today. It's settled, before Thea gets back from her shift I'll go to the bridge.

            Just as I got up from the couch I thought I could feel another presence in the house. I turned around thinking that Thea might have forgotten something and came back for it to find another woman standing there. She's wearing an SPD uniform and her hair is down in soft brunette waves.

            "Sorry Thea told me I could stay here for the day, she's helping me out." I said wondering why Thea didn't tell me an officer was coming over.

            "Stay as long as you need. How do you know Thea?" The woman asked.

            "She found me on the bridge over the river last night and is letting me crash here for the day. Who are you?" I asked.

            "My name is Allison Ramsey, I'm Thea's wife." The woman said.

            That's why she looked familiar. I looked away from the woman and found the picture Thea put behind every other one she had.

            "I hate that she puts us in the back." Allison said from behind me. "We were as thick as thieves back then. Wherever I went Thea wasn't that far behind and vice-versa. She has been alone since I died. I don't know why she went home that way last night but fate lead her to you." Allison said as I moved her wedding picture to the front of the others on the ledge.

            "She's my angel. She pulled me over the rail when I tried to kill myself last night." I said and looked over at Allison.

            "Sounds like Thea" Allison said and gave me a small smile.

            "I'm not going to be here long." I said thinking about my plans to go back to the bridge tonight.

            "You heard what the Reaper said last night Ashlyn. It's not your time yet." Allison said.

            "Maybe not last night, maybe it's tonight." I said and looked away from Allison. 

            "I just want to make you aware that the Reaper likes to play games. He did when he took me. There must be a bigger plan for you here living on Earth for him to say it's not your time yet Ashlyn. Please be careful." Allison said.

            A car horn outside blared and I turned to look out the window as I watched a car pass by the front of the house. When I looked back toward Allison she was gone. I sighed and sat back down on the couch. I looked at the clock that's hung on the wall to see it's only 3 in the afternoon. Today's going to be a long day.

Song on the side is Cut by Plumb. Picture on the side is of Florence Pugh who plays Themis 'Thea' Ramsey.