You Promised
It had been a stormy day, where the roads would make every car slip and slide across the roads.
It always rained on days like these—ones that will be engraved into your bones forever and never let go.
Leo decided that he would go out for the night, leaving Maya at home herself in the storm.
“You are not leaving without me!” Maya yelled as Leo was getting ready, “Leo YOU COME BACK HERE. RIGHT NOW. If you even step one foot outside of that door, we are done. YOU HEAR ME? LEO!!”
Before Maya could say a word, he slammed the door shut and drove out to the city.
For days, Maya had been moping on her bed, eating Rocky Road ice cream and Trader Joe‘s takis. Suddenly, her phone started to buzz against the palm of her hand.
It was her sister. The only thing she said was to turn on the news immediately.
Maya scrambled to find the TV remote, destroying her living room. When she finally turned on the TV, she saw the headlines. She turned pale as a ghost, her palms turned sweaty, and her heart began beating like a drum. She sprinted into her car like a track star and immediately drove to the nearest hospital.
Sirens were screeching, flashes of red and blue, and there she saw him. Pale and ghostly, almost like all the life was sucked out of him. Nurses, doctors, and first-aid responders all surrounded Leo, frantically shouting and attaching him to every possible tube and giving him CPR. It was scary.
“Maya..” Leo whispered, “I’m so sorry. Don’t worry, I’ll be okay, I promise.”
“You promised!” Maya cried into the rain, her voice cracking from the harsh wind.
Maya stood at the edge of the hospital parking lot. The world was frozen, except for the pounding in her chest. The hospital told her not to follow him, not to run in after him, because he wouldn’t survive.
But Leo promised. He promised he would be okay—that everything would be okay.
They were seventeen—just kids. But to her, it felt like forever. The way he used to tuck the one stray strand of hair behind her ear, the way he used to assure her she was beautiful even when she insisted she looked like a mess, the way he used to look at her like she hung the moon.
None of this was supposed to happen—the screaming, the fighting, the breakup, the accident.
They hadn’t even spoken in days. Not one word, not one text. Until now.
She didn’t know how long she stood there—minutes, maybe hours—her fists clenched, clothing soaked, hair stuck to her face like a wet cloth. She couldn’t move—she wouldn’t move. Not until she knew.
The hospital doors finally opened.
A nurse stepped out, an umbrella in one hand and a clipboard full of papers in the other. Her expression gave everything away before she even opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
Maya didn’t hear anything else after that. Her heart pounded, and Maya could feel water staining her cheeks—either from the rain or her tears.
The next thing she knew, she was on her knees. The cement was wet, cold, and rough. It scratched her knees through her jeans, but she didn’t feel it.
“He said he’d be okay,” she whispered.”
“He promised he’d be okay,” Maya screamed into the pouring rain and shadows.
The nurse said nothing. What could she possibly say?
That night, Maya lay in his bed, the smell of him still in his sheets. She wore his hoodie, the same black hoodie that he always loved to wear. She kept scrolling through their own texts, reading every “I love you,” not knowing those would be the last time Leo would ever tell her that. She read every stupid thought, every stupid joke that only they would understand.
Her eyes finally landed on the last text he had sent—right before the accident.
“No matter what happens, I’ll always come back, I promise.”
And this time Maya didn’t scream, didn’t cry. There was nothing left of her. She felt empty, like her soul had washed away with the storm and left a hollow spot where her heart had been.
