JACK AND ROSE: PRESENT TIME
Chapter
Fifteen
It was the night of
the wake. Jack came over to Rose's house to pick her up. Rose ran to his truck
and quickly got in.
"How you
holding up?" Jack asked after he kissed her.
"Terrible...you?"
"I've been
better. Way better."
"Jack, we're
about to see Tonya dead. DEAD. This feels like a nightmare. I want to wake up
so bad. I wanna wake up and go to the mall with her again...but she's gone.
Gone forever."
Rose's words hit
Jack hard. "I know Rose. We're gonna get through this, though okay? Tonya
has gone to a better place, and we will see her again."
Rose smiled
slightly at Jack. Even though she knew he was in pain, he was trying to be the
optimist.
"Gosh, Jack I
miss her so much," Rose said as she started to cry.
"I do too,
Rose."
Once they got
there, they met up with Fabrizio and Dominique in the lobby.
"Where's
Tommy?" Jack asked.
Dominique pointed
toward the casket. There was Tommy. Staring down at the casket.
"We haven't
gone in yet, we wanted to wait for you," Dominique said as she gave Rose a
hug.
They all walked in
slowly. Once Rose saw that body, she froze. She just couldn't move. Jack helped
her and took her hand.
When they all came
closer they all were shocked. It didn't look like a monster, like they had
expected. It looked like Tonya. Tonya, the bundle of energy they all
remembered. She looked like she was sleeping peacefully.
Tommy finally
noticed his friends walking toward him. Tommy just stared at them for a second
and shut his eyes, trying to hold back his tears.
The funeral went a
lot like that as well. Everyone cried through the whole thing.
Rose looked over at
Tonya's parents, who were also crying.
Rose looked over to
Jack, who was sitting next to her. He had tears in his eyes. When Jack noticed
Rose staring at him he looked over at her and gave her a reassuring smile, even
though Rose knew it was a fake one.
Once the ceremony
was over, they all looked at Tonya for the last time.
"Goodbye
Tonya," Rose whispered. "I love you."
Rose saw Tommy say
goodbye and she could feel how strong his love for her was.
They all left to go
to the cemetery. Everyone was still sobbing and crying.
Jack looked over to
Rose to make sure she was holding up. She wasn't crying anymore, she was
staring out into space. He saw her whisper something to herself.
After it was over,
they all went home. Fabrizio and Jack made sure Tommy made it home okay, while
Dominique took Rose home.
"Dom, I'm
still in shock," Rose said as they got into Dominique's car.
"I am too, it
hasn't really sunken in yet."
"I have an
idea, let's go to my Church and light a candle for her," Rose said.
"Good
idea."
They drove the rest
of the way in silence. When they got there, they saw that Jack and Fabrizio had
already beat them to it.
"You two had
the same idea?" Fabrizio asked.
"Yep,"
Rose replied, heading straight to Jack.
Jack gave her a hug
and a kiss. "I love you," Jack whispered in her ear.
"I love you
too."
They all lit a
candle and said their prayers. They all knew that Tonya was with God now. They
had no idea there were even more trouble ahead.