Prologue
“Shit, we’re losing her sir!” a frantic voice called out.
With her eyes just barely cracked upon and the Anesthesia rushing through her veins, Emerald Stubbe could make out the blurry figures of doctors and nurses as they rushed around her. There was a bright light shining down into her eyes and for a second she wonders if she was actually seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that people always say they see as they die.
Warmth saturated her entire lower body as her blood flowed heavily from her body. There were a few light pokes in her arms but she didn’t care what they might have been.
Laughing softly inside her own mind, she found it rather ironic that the one thing she wanted in life was what was going to kill her. She had saved up for over ten years just to make sure she could pay for this operation and somehow, something went wrong and now she was bleeding to death. But for some reason, she was okay with what was happening. Death was natural and if she had to go then she did, it’s not like she had many people that would actually miss her. She had long since destroyed any connections to her family, they didn’t even know she was having this surgery. Sure, Vivian and Silvia would probably miss her but that was it. It’s not like she had boyfriend or anything. And her boss could always find another to replace her. Besides her friends and her cat Twilight, she didn’t have anything left.
As her heart beat started to slow down, she wondered just what she could have done better in her life. She doubted she could ever change how she saw her family but besides them there was so much that she missed out on and so many things that she regretted. People she hurt and ones she didn’t help when she could have. Not like they would it now but if she had a chance she would at least try.
Flashes of memories started to play inside her mind. Her early years and the ridicule she received from her peers for trying to do things that interested her. The constant fighting with her sister Shirley and all the times her words were utterly ignored whenever the older girl was near. Then there was the constant moving from her grandmother, father, and mother’s homes. The utter soul crushing depression of never being able to make real friends just because her family could never seem to keep her for more than a few years.
She had never felt at home with any of them, no matter how much that hurt to think. The constant snide remarks, the two-faced reactions, and never-ending demands of entitlement. Unlike her mother and sister, Emerald had always felt guilty whenever she asked for anything from any of her family. She had even kept a notebook that listed how much money she owed them, what it was for, and when they gave it to her. Of course, she never bothered putting down allowances because she never was able to hold onto them for a day before they asked for it back. She had felt like the world lifted from her shoulders when she had burned that stupid little black book four years ago.
Unknown to any of her family, she had kept track of just where they lived or what bank they had used. Each month she would take a small portion of her check and give it to them. She didn’t know if they ever noticed but at least she had done it. Although when her grandma Geena died a few years ago, she had started taking that money and set up a savings account for her nephew Kip. He wouldn’t have access to it until he turns 18 and it was strictly for bills and college but she knew that he would probably appreciate it, even though he probably had long forgot who she was. She had even had a will written up a couple years ago saying that her liquid assets would be divided three ways between Vivian, Silvia, and Kip. She just hoped they liked it.
As her eyes started to feel heavier, she remembered her years in high school. Ironically enough it was her senior year that she had thrown caution to the wind and started to be herself instead of the cold jerk that she pretended to be around every one but her closest friends. She would laugh now about what her peers had thought of her but even then, she wasn’t used to being in any form of attention. Or rather, she wasn’t used to acknowledging that they were actually curious about her. Being in the shadows for ten years does wondered for your social life. Thankfully during college, she was finally able to shed that nervousness. She had to considering her career in foreign communications for the government.
Darkness started to slowly seep into her line of sight but she easily ignored it.
The biggest regret she had was not stopping her childhood friend Jacob Brune from falling into a drug addiction. He had passed away when they were 22 from a cocaine deal gone wrong. To this day she still felt like she should have done something to keep him away from it. She just didn’t know how.
But at least now she would be able to see him again, even if he didn’t like who she had become since they last spoke.
When her heart finally stopped beating and her lungs stopped letting in air, she only twitched once before letting her eyes close for the last time. The one thing that would always baffle the doctors was the gentle and happy smile that was resting upon her lips.
“Time of death, 2:47pm April 13th, 2037.”
