Last chapter
Wednesday 11.16.2016
San Francisco, California
Josh's long legs carried him across the arrival hall of the San Francisco International Airport, strands of curly dark brown hair wiping beads of sweat on his tanned forehead. But the unexpected evening chill in November stroke him as soon as he walked out of the revolving door to flag down a taxi. Opening the door of a yellow cab that stopped for him at the drop-off and pick-up lane, Josh squeezed his 6'2" figure into the compact backseat of the Toyota, and ordered the driver with clear urgency, "Quick! To the Golden Gate Bridge!"
Without uttering a word, the taxi driver fired up the engine and sped away from the curb.
Outside of the spotty car window, dark shadows lurked beneath the twilight sky like a witch about to cast a deadly spell to make him a lonely man for the rest of his life. He shivered, trying to erase the articles he'd read on his phone in the airport lounge about the bridge: 1,600 deaths between 1937 and 2012, only 26 survivors. Number 2 most popular suicide locations of the world. Suicide barriers still in the works due to funding issue.
It had been two days since Emma was missing from her home at the Big Island of Hawaii, even shorter if you count the time difference. When her backward writing was interpreted by reading from a mirror indicating she was going to jump from a bridge, he almost collapsed. He'd much rather hope that she had a total collapse somewhere on the island because fatality rate would certainly be far lower than 98%.
Deciphering Emma's journal was a huge challenge for all three of them, Officer David Hope, Kayla, and him, considering the complexity of her writing styles and the high volume of workload from the countless number of entries. What Josh was most grateful for was having David's help. Kayla or he would've never figured out that Emma wrote backwards.
David was right. Between Kayla and him, he should be the one to come and talk Emma down. Kayla broke down after reading the journal and was probably still going through the dusty stacks stored in the attic. The saddening scripts sealed by anti-depression drugs unlocked a closed gate behind which Emma kept the doubts for her existence, her ability to add value to others, and her entitlement to the basic enjoyments of a normal person. People say sister-sister relationship is always love-hate. In their case, the natural complication mixed with feelings of unfairness from their parents since childhood had created an unintentional distance between them long ago, burying a love Kayla didn't know existed until she saw her hurtful words in Emma's encrypted writing before she disappeared. The thought of Emma's pain at the accusation of choosing her own gain to win the competition over meeting a commitment to the business that supported both of them pierced Kayla's heart like a dagger, tears streaming down her eyes like a bleeding wound she didn't believe would ever heal.
Looking at his own reflection on the car window, Josh saw a a man who once thought committing to being with someone for the rest of the life only required the acceptance for all of who she was, a willingness to take on life's challenges together, and the ability to preserve the love they share. But what he failed to see was the importance of building a trust that would dissolve any destructive doubt to do all of the above. How Emma had been torn apart by the yearning for an unconditional love, the guilt of concealing her true self, and the fear of losing a salvation torched Josh's heart, burning a terrifying image of a gruesome death in his head.
He'd give anything he had to trade the luck to catch her before she jumped, and win her trust, if it wasn't too greedy.
The taxi slowly came to a stop. The driver groaned, "Noooo...not now!"
"What happened?"
"The car's out of gas. I need to call tow." The driver dialed his phone as he spoke.
"What? How did you not fill up the tank! Didn't you see the warning light on your dashboard?" Josh was pissed off at such a stupid misfortune. This was the last thing he needed at the moment, a delay that could cost a life.
"I am sorry, I didn't know it'd run out so fast..." The driver sounded very apologetic, his eyes looking like a dog begging for mercy from the rear view mirror.
"I don't have time to wait for tow, my fiancé is about to jump from the Golden Gate Bridge! How far is this from the bridge?" Every precious second wasted meant Emma walked one step closer to the bridge. Josh knew it didn't help to argue now.
"Oh! I am sorry to hear about that. It's not far from the bridge, but if you don't know which way she's coming from or which side she's on, you could easily miss her because this bridge is over one mile long."
Okay, cool down Josh. Taking a long, deep meditative breath, he thought about what the taxi driver said for a couple of seconds. It actually made sense.
"There's this Battery Godfrey just around this path. From up there you can catch a good view of the bridge. I'll run down to the right side of the bridge first." The driver pointed to a gravel path on a moderate slope, and quickly disappeared into the dusk.
Any guidance sounded like a saving grace. Josh didn't think twice about it, just jumped to his feet and ran up the path. A two-story concete structure stood in front of him after a slight turn. Sprinting up a straight flight of stairs and then climbing up a vertical ladder, he walked onto a platform where he saw two red bridge towers holding hands with the signature cables.
"How in the world can I see a person on the bridge so far away?" Josh felt like he got tricked into coming here by that taxi driver for no good reason he could think of. But that was not important now. He needed to accomplish his mission: find Emma.
Just as he was about to go down, he notice another person coming towards him from the edge of the platform. Distant lights from the bridge drew a familiar outline of a girl shivering in the evening chill, her hair and dress swaying freely in the wind. Her face was blurry but clearly recognizable.
"Tim, it's too dark to see. Let's get down." She said softly.
"Emma! It's me Josh!" He cried with ecstatic excitement.
"Josh? What are you doing here?" Emma gasped, sounding beyond surprised.
"To catch you before you jump off the bridge, of course!"
Right, the suicide.
With two large strides, Josh folded Emma into his long arms, her petite frame deeply sinking in his warm embrace before she could respond to her own thoughts. Emma inhaled his scent in the little breathing room she had in his snug hug, feeling once again loved, saved, and blessed.
In the back of her mind though, she knew that this moment wouldn't last, and that Josh could very well back out once passion subsided and reality sunk in. The tiniest bit of regret, a second thought after the commitment, the faintest sign of hesitation, any disapproval from anyone, could crush her, bringing her from heaven to hell in a split second.
Keep it real, Emma, she said to herself with a silent sigh, enjoying what she decided to be her last intimate moment with Josh.
