Paralysis
How did it get to this point? How could this have happened?
That was all that went through my mind in that second. Looking back, I probably should have moved out of the way. Who knew it was so hard to move when you leave your body.
I could not see anything. Everything felt like a blur and everything sounded like screaming rapids. When my eyes could finally open, the world was unfocused and my body was heavy with pain. And his body. His body? Had I been able to move, I would have rolled over or stood up or anything to disprove my fear. Alas, my intuition was correct – his blood was still warm as it soaked into my shirt and dripped down my forehead. No, wait... that was my blood. Perhaps it was both. We were practically brothers, after all. We still would be had he not jumped in front of that car. He could have, at least, faced away from me. Why did he do it? I ask myself that question every night and it is three decades later. He knew I was miserable. He knew there was nothing left for me, save for him. I was probably a fool to step in the road – I would have left him behind. He was a fool too, though. He saved a life that was never written into the world’s narrative. Such a fool. He was the only reason I was going to remove myself from the road. If only he gave me two seconds. Now, my life truly has no meaning. I would not still be here if it was not for my nurses. Bloody nurses. The best ones I have ever met and I do not even appreciate their effort. He would have loved them. That flirt. He was always more confident. He was always stronger. That was the first - nay, only - time I had ever seen him cry. Ironic that I survived, it seems. In truth, though, he was still stronger than me to the end. I should have pushed him out of the way. It was fear that paralyzed me. That was how this happened. I left my body from the waist down.