Time for Miracles

The clock struck midnight. She stood there staring, staring at him. Broken. Hurt. She turned to run, but she could get nowhere. She could only see darkness. Black as night. She loved him, and he broke her. Her long, black hair was flowing behind her, her chocolate colored eyes red from the tears, and her ghostly pale skin tear-stained. “Come back!” He shouted to her going after her.
“Stay away, Jack!” Raphaela shouted back.
She stopped and fell to her knees. Jack caught up to her and knelt down. He wrapped his arms around her. “Shhh, Raphaela, it’ll all be okay,” Jack whispered into her ear.
Raphaela turned to him and leaned up to kiss him, but before she could, he shattered like glass and fell into the abyss. “Jack!” Raphaela cried out.
Raphaela was dreaming. She awoke with a startle in a cold sweat. “Jack,” Raphaela whispered as a single tear fell down her cheek.
She looked to the clock; it read 4:30 AM. She rolled over, pulled the covers up and tried to fall asleep again before she had to go to school.
She awoke at 6:30 AM on the dot. Raphaela groaned and got out of her bed. Suddenly her phone rang its normal ‘Queen of Hearts’ ringtone and she walked over to her desk and got her phone, “Hello,” She said sleepily.
“Hey, Rafe,” He greeted.
“Yeah, Isaiah?” She asked walking over to her closet and looking through her clothes.
“Did you have that dream again?” he asked her.
Raphaela put her phone on speaker and pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a pink t-shirt. “Yeah, I did,” She sighed changing out of her pajamas and into her blue jeans and t-shirt.
“Rafe, if you keep having that dream, you’re going to go crazy,” Isaiah told her.
“I know,” she said walking into her bathroom.
She started to do her makeup, “Rafe, you know I care, you know Gage and Aaron do as well,” He started. “So if you ever need to talk, we will listen.”
“Thanks,” Raphaela smiled.
“I’ll be there soon to pick you up,” Isaiah said to her.
“Alright, I’ll be ready,” She said to him.
“Aight,” He laughed.
“See you later,” she said.
“Bye, Rafe,” He laughed before they hung up.
Raphaela finished getting ready in about fifteen minutes, just as Isaiah got there. Gabriella, Raphaela’s older sister, opened the door just as Isaiah was going to knock on the door. “Hello, Isaiah,” She smiled as she let him in.
“Hey Gabriella,” Isaiah smiled walking in.
Isaiah had pale skin, red hair, and baby blue eyes. “Rafe!” Gabriella shouted upstairs. “Isaiah is here!”
“Okay!” Raphaela shouted back before running down the stairs and almost into Isaiah.
“Whoa there,” Isaiah laughed hugging her like a friend would, not like a boyfriend.
“Hey,” She laughed hugging him back.
Gabriella walked back into the kitchen and got her some food and sat at the table, away from them.
“Wanna get a move on?” Isaiah asked her.
“Sure,” She smiled as Isaiah led her to his black Hummer.
She got in on the passenger side and Isaiah got in on the driver’s side. Isaiah started the Hummer and pulled out onto the road. “Rafe?”
“Yeah?” Raphaela asked looking to Isaiah.
“How’s your shoulder doing?” He asked her worried.
“It’s been better,” She said rubbing her shoulder.
Raphaela had hurt it playing football with her friends and cousins a week before. She looked out the window looking all depressed. “Rafe? You still thinking about him?” Isaiah asked worriedly.
“Yeah,” She replied simply. “I can’t help but to think about him.”
“You have to stop thinking about him,” Isaiah told her. “It’s going to drive you crazy.”
“I know, Isaiah, but it’s hard to,” She told him, lying over and lying her head on his leg.
Isaiah took a hand off of the wheel and moved some of her hair out of her face.
Soon they ended up at Gage and Aaron’s place. They got out of Isaiah’s Hummer and walked up to the door just as Gage and Aaron opened it. “Hey guys,” Gage smiled looking at them.
Gage had sandy brown hair, sea blue eyes, and tanned skin. Aaron looked a lot like him but a little different. “Hey,” Raphaela smiled.
“You guys ready?” Isaiah asked them.
“Yeah,” Aaron said to them as he and Gage picked up their stuff.
They all walked out to Isaiah’s hummer, got in, and took off. Gage sat in the backseat on the passenger side, Raphaela sat on the passenger side in the front, and Aaron sat behind Isaiah. Raphaela sat there staring out the window. “You had the dream again didn’t you?” Gage asked her.
“Yeah,” Raphaela whispered.
The rest of the ride was in silence. At least until they got into a wreck when a Chevrolet S10 hit them on the passenger side and they were sent rolling into the field. Isaiah got a move on and pulled Raphaela out while Aaron helped Gage out. “Is Rafe okay?” Gage asked as soon as they were out of the Hummer. She had blood all down her pants and on her shirt. She had a cut from her hairline to her chin from glass that was flown at her from the impact.
“She has a wound to the abdomen,” Isaiah shouted panicky holding her in his arms.
Aaron called 911, “911, what’s your emergency?” The dispatcher asked.
“My friends and I were in a wreck and Rafe is out cold,” Aaron told the 911 dispatcher, trying to stay calm.
“I need your exact location so I can send you some help,” The dispatcher told him.
“Uhh, guys where are we?” Aaron asked them.
“In a field between mile marker 13 and mile marker 14,” Gage told them.
The whole time, Isaiah was trying to stop the bleeding, or at least try to.
“We’re in a field between 13 mile marker and 14 mile marker on Frye Road,” Aaron told him as calmly as possible.
“Ok, I’ll get help on the way,” The 911 dispatcher told him.
“Hurry,” Aaron told her.
“They’ll get there as soon as they can,” The dispatcher said.
Not long after the dispatcher sent the emergency personnel, they arrived at the scene. The EMTs put Raphaela on the gurney and rushed to get her in the ambulance and got her to the hospital. All the way trying to stop the bleeding.
An EMT patched up Gage, who had a cut from his hairline to his shoulder, but Isaiah and Aaron weren’t hurt that bad, Isaiah had a cut from his hairline to his chin while Aaron had a cut from his eye to his ear.
Mr. Dominick pulled alongside the scene and had Isaiah, Gage, and Aaron get in his SUV. “Thank God you’re alright,” Mr. Dominick said to the guys.
“But Rafe isn’t,” Isaiah told him. “She’s in an ambulance on her way to the hospital.”
Mr. Dominick started to drive to the hospital, faster than he normally drives.
When they got there, Mr. Dominick ran inside with Isaiah, Aaron and Gage behind him. “I need information on my daughter, Raphaela Dominick,” Mr. Dominick told the nurse.
“She’s in surgery now,” The nurse said to them looking it up on the computer.
“Do you know how much longer?” Aaron asked her.
“No I don’t. Sorry,” She told them.
“Thank you,” Mr. Dominick said as she, Isaiah, Aaron, and Gage walked over to the seats and sat down to wait.
A few hours later, a doctor came out with the news of Raphaela, “Mr. Dominick?” He asked walking up to him.
“How’s my daughter?” Mr. Dominick asked him trying to stay calm.
“We were able to stop the bleeding, she could lapse into a coma but only time will tell,” The doctor told them.
“When can we see her?” Aaron asked, fearful because of the news of his best friend.
“Now but only two at a time,” The doctor said turning to go to Raphaela’s room and they followed him.
Mr. Dominick and Isaiah walked in and Isaiah hated to see Raphaela in the state she was. With a breathing tube hooked to her, heart monitor, and an IV.
“You’re strong, Rafe. I know you can get through this,” Isaiah said moving some hair out of her face.
Hours passed and Raphaela had, like the doctors predicted, fallen into a coma.
“You can’t be serious,” Aaron said looking back to Raphaela when the doctor told them.
“I wish I could say otherwise,” The doctor told him.
“There has to be something you can do,” Isaiah argued.
“I’m sorry. There is nothing the other doctors or I can do to help,” The doctor told them.
“There has to be,” Gage said in disbelief.
And Aaron, Isaiah and Gage went back to Raphaela’s side. “Come on, Rafe. I know you’re strong enough to make it through this.”
-
"Where am I?" Raphaela asked herself. She was in a dark area she didn't recognize. Then a bright light enveloped her and she was suddenly on a street that was right next to the ocean. She turned and looked around her. It was her hometown.
"What am I doing in Raleigh?" Raphaela asked. Then she heard a little girl giggling behind her. She turned and saw something that she thought was impossible.
She saw herself as a little 4-year-old girl with Gabriella and her parents!
"Mom? Dad?" she murmured. They didn't seem to notice her but were eating lunch in the grass nearby.
Raphaela never thought she'd see her mother's face outside one of their pictures again. She had long black hair, strong gray eyes, and was very tall and beautiful.
Her dad had messy brown hair and bright blue eyes. He looked like their Uncle Ralph but much taller. And Gabriella had black hair instead of dark purple hair.
"This is way before I played that little prank on Gabriella with my old friends," Raphaela giggled. "I can't believe I'm seeing my family together again." She walked closer and little Raphaela ran right in her direction with Gabriella, who was 6-years-old, running after her.
"Hey, Raphaela, come back!" Gabriella laughed as she chased her.
"No way! You're it and I have to run!" the little girl laughed. They were clearly playing tag.
"This is so cute," Raphaela said to herself. Her little self didn't pay any attention to her. But Raphaela turned her attention to her parents. "Mom..." Then, she fell to her knees. "Why did you have to go?"
"Raphaela! Raphaela!" She heard 3 voices talking to her. It wasn't the young Gabriella calling out to the little girl Raphaela. It was Aaron, Isaiah, and Gage’s voices. That was impossible. Raphaela didn't know either of them before this time.
"Guys! Where are you?" she called out. Raphaela turned back to her parents to see that they were gone and so were her younger self and Gabriella. The whole scene changed and Raphaela was now in her apartment where she lived. She still lived there with Gabriella but it sort of felt quieter without their mother.
"What's happening?" Raphaela asked.
-
A couple months passed of Aaron, Isaiah, and Gage staying at Raphaela’s side unless they had to leave because of the nurses. They would talk to her, telling her stories, telling her how much they missed her voice, her smile, and everything about her. Mr. Dominick had stayed by her side as well. One day while Mr. Dominick was in the cafeteria, Gage was reclined in the recliner in Raphaela’s room asleep, Isaiah was in the other chair lying back asleep, and Aaron had his head down on her bed on his arms that he had crossed, Raphaela’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She moved her hand so she could touch Aaron’s arm, and woke him up. He looked at her wide eyed and surprised. He held up a finger symbolizing one moment and went to get the nurses. Gage and Isaiah woke up and were surprised, “Rafe,” Gage said like he hadn’t seen her in forever.
“Hey, Gage, Isaiah,” Raphaela smiled.
“I can’t believe this,” Isaiah whispered.
“Well I’m awake now,” She replied smiling.
The nurses came in, ushered Gage and Isaiah outside with Aaron, who stayed outside, and checked her out making sure she was alright after being in the coma for a couple months.
When they were done, Aaron, Gage, and Isaiah rushed back in, “Hey guys,” Raphaela smiled.
“Thank God you’re alright,” Isaiah said walking over to her and gave her a hug.
Raphaela hugged him back. “Thank you for not leaving my side,” Raphaela whispered when she let go of him.
“You know?” Gage asked her, shocked.
“I could hear you guys talking,” Raphaela smiled.
“Really?” Aaron asked, just as shocked.
Raphaela nodded, “Yeah.”
“We’re glad you’re alright, Rafe,” Gage smiled walking over to her and hugging her as well.
Raphaela hugged him back too. “Me too,” Raphaela smiled
“You have to stop scaring us like that,” Aaron said hugging her as well.
And Raphaela hugged him back too.
A week later, Raphaela was sent home. She walked through the door to find a Rottweiler puppy walking up to her with a pink ribbon tied to its collar. “Aww,” Raphaela cooed picking her up. “She’s so cute.”
“Her name is Schenoke, meaning little beauty,” Isaiah smiled.
“All three of us helped pick out your welcome home present,” Gage smiled walking in and sitting on the couch.
“It took a lot from your dad to allow us to get her,” Aaron laughed sitting beside his twin.
“Thank you guys,” Raphaela giggled as the puppy licked her face.
Everyone was smiling at that. And laughing.