Again (Brandy Jeffus)

away except Eli and the robber. Eli is screaming at the guy and he’s yelling back at Eli. But the only thing I hear are the loud jackrabbit beats of my heart.
    This is a dream. It has to be.
    Eli yells again, moving his stance slightly. The guy in black starts backing up and Eli takes a few more steps.
    My heart freezes as I see the robber's finger squeeze the trigger. The silence is broken by the deafening pop that follows. I drop the phone and scream.
    Eli's right shoulder jerks back by the force. A surprise look crosses his face. He looks over at me screaming. Its okay , he mouths. He looks back to the gunman who is still as a statue.
    Quicker than I’ve ever seen him move, Eli whips his arm back in front of him and lowers his gun, pointing towards the guy's legs. He squints and pops two gun shots. The guy lets out a high-pitched squeal and drops to the ground.
    Keeping his arms in front of him, Eli walks slowly to the guy. He bites his bottom lip, but still has a look of determination on his face. Pride swells in my chest. It flows throughout my body, making me tingle with adoration.
    I furiously wipe the tears off my face as the loud whoops of three police cars fill the air. They come from different directions, circling the gas station. Police officers jump out as soon as they park, their guns drawn. They start shouting at both Eli and the gunman.
    Eli doesn’t look up but identifies himself as a cop. His left hand flicks to his waist and pulls out his badge. He holds it up in the air for a second then lowers it. His black tank top clings to him.
    The saying, in a blink of an eye, has always been so foreign to me. How can something happen so fast that nobody even suspected? Surely at least one person would have an inkling as to what was about to happen. Nothing can happen that quickly.
    Except it did. The gunman raises his gun when Eli is about 5 feet away. He fires off a shot aimed at the center of Eli's body. As soon as the gun goes off, the police officers around the gas station start firing. The noise is deafening, like fireworks at a fourth of July celebration. Everything is so loud.
    They shoot him multiple times. The gunman’s body jump with each shot, and then my Eli falls to the ground too.
    I scream again, my heart threatening to give out on me at any moment. This isn’t right. This isn’t fair. I run to him, oblivious to anything else going on. All the yelling and noise just becomes static. I trip and fall right before I get to him and crawl the rest of the way, ignoring the pain in both my knees and hands. Blood has already pooled out around his body.
    “No, Eli, no, no, no, no!” I gently take his head in my hands and lift it on my lap. His eyes are closed, his mouth slightly open. I put my head down to see if I can hear him breathing. He was, thank God. “Baby, please wake up. You’ve got to wake up for me,” I’m choking on my own tears. I can’t find my breath; it feels like my airways are frozen. He has two bullets in him.
The bullet had to have hit his heart.
    Eli's eyes flutter open and he coughs, his hand coming up to cup my cheek, "Bonnie, it’s okay. It's okay."
    "I love you so much, Eli. Please don't leave me okay? Stay here with me."
    "I love you too, baby. I always have and always will. Don't worry okay?" He pulls my head down to him. Our lips crash together in a fearful kiss. I hear ambulance sirens and I feel hands around my arms. Someone lifts me off of Eli. He reaches out to me as I’m carried farther away.
    "Eli, please! Dear God in Heaven, please!" The EMTs come to his side. There’s a flurry of movements as they cut his shirt and load him onto the stretcher.
    "ELIJAH, DON'T LEAVE ME!!!" I scream. My heart is ripping in two again. I can’t lose him again. I won’t be able to live through it.
    Then everything turns black.
    ***
    As soon as he walked in, he immediately regretted it. There was a reason why he never became a bar hopper. They sucked. He spotted Eddie at the main bar. He waved him over with a big smile on his face. Eli could tell he was already smashed.
    This should be interesting, Eli thought sarcastically. He walked over to Eddie and shook hands. Eddie attempted to pull him into a man hug but lost his balance.
    “Whoa there buddy. Started a little early, huh?” Eli laughed trying to keep things light.
    Eddie nodded and grinned broad. “You know me; the party's been going on since noon!”
    Eli inwardly groaned and sat down. He didn't understand why