***
She sat on her bed. The tears had finally stopped falling. Her eyes had nothing left to pour out. I have to talk to him. I can�t go on like this. She walked to the stairwell. What if he doesn�t feel the same way? What if he�s happier this way? She worked up the courage and walked to his dorm. She knocked. No answer. She knocked again. The door opened. She breathed in. �Marissa? What are you doing here so late?� It wasn�t him. It was his roommate. �Where is he, Jimmy?� �I don�t know Marissa. What happened?� He saw her splotchy face. She closed her eyes, breathed out, then walked down the hall, back to the stairwell, and into the basement. The basement was the best place to cry and be by yourself this late at night.
***
She walked out of the stairwell. He breathed in quietly. How did she find him? What more did she have to say? Two more tears escaped from his eyes. He held his breath. It was dark; she couldn�t see him. She sat down on the couch across from him and put her head in her hands. �Dear Lord, please help us. Lord I�m sorry for what I said to him. It�s not his fault. He tried to help, and I lashed out at him. Now he hates me. And he thinks I hate him.� She paused and looked straight at him, then at the ceiling. �Lord, help me. Help me to tell him the truth. Help me to find him. He needs to know. Help me to deal with it also. Help me to know what to do. Help us Lord. Be present in our lives. We need you.� He wondered what she had meant. What had happened?
***
She sat back, hugged her knees to her chest and cried. The tears flowed out again. There was no stopping them, either. She prayed again. �Lord, be with Anna. I guess I don�t have to pray that anymore. She is with you forever. Lord, help those of us on earth understand that she is with you now. Help us to go on without her next to us.� Those were all the words she got out before the tears took over again.
***
He got up.
She looked around. Something was moving. Someone had heard her prayers. She couldn�t see them. Who had it been?
He sat down next to her. He pulled her head to his shoulder and hugged her. She pulled back, afraid. �Sweetie, it�s ok. It�s me.�
It was him. He had heard her prayer. �Jay. Please don�t hate me. I�m so sorry. Anna died, Jay. She died this morning. A car hit her, when we were walking to breakfast. I don�t know what to do, Jay. I don�t know how to handle this.�
�You did the right thing, sweetie. You prayed.� More tears fell from his eyes. He was no longer ashamed of them. She lifted her hand to his face, and wiped them away, as he did the same to her. A small smile formed on her face.
�We have to keep praying, Jay.�
�Of course, sweetie, that�s how we�ll go on.�