A Close Fatal Regret

            A few years ago I came close to losing… a loss that I would have regretted for the rest of my life.  Miraculously, I avoided the dreadful torment that would have surely haunted me for the rest of my years to come. But most of all I was able to repair a relationship that was torn apart by immaturity. 

December 3^rd, 2011

            Today, my cousin was getting married.  As he walked down the aisle tears ran down my cheeks as I looked back into the past where we played hide and seek.  My younger cousin, sixteen-year-old Evelyn, stood next to me giggling, “Loser, why are you crying?”  I stood quiet and ignored her.  She continued to make jokes and I just thought about how annoying she was and how I felt like smacking her.  But I held back for two reasons.  One, because it was a ceremony and I didn’t want to make a scene. And two, because she was extremely spoiled and would cry simply for attention.  I didn’t want to get into trouble.  So I ignored her throughout the whole ceremony.

            Evelyn lives in Mesquite, Nevada which is located about an hour away from Las Vegas.  Everything is an hour away!  There are no malls, no movie theaters, nothing that attracts teenagers.  It’s practically a city where people retire.  So the teens turn to drugs, alcohol and sex.  Evelyn grew up from a sweet and shy girl to an alcohol driven party girl.  From what I know she would sneak out and run back home at dawn to get ready for school.  I know our teenage years are full of rebellion acts so I couldn’t judge her because I would also act out but I kept away from danger.  I knew she was failing her classes so I tried to encourage her to keep away from her constant partying.  Like a sister I was just looking out for her but I finally gave up and began to dislike her.

December 10^th, 2011

            The night before I had been studying for midterms.  I had a horrible headache and was nervous because I could not retain important information.  I was still in bed when I heard my dad come into my room. He whispered, “Hey, do you want me to tell you something?”  I was too lazy and wanted to go back to sleep so I said no.  An hour later I had to get up to drink some medications.  My dad approaches me again, “Sit down.”  I sat down confused because he never tells me to sit down after I wake up.  “Evelyn is in a coma.”  I looked back at him while my eyes widened.  I sat quiet for about a minute until I responded, “How? What happened!?” My dad continued, “Well she was out partying with her friends.  When her friend decided to leave Evelyn jumped on top of the girl’s car.  Evelyn joked that her friend wouldn’t drive with her on top of the car’s hood…She sped away, came across a curve and Evelyn was thrown off.  She was flown to Las Vegas.”  I instantly began to cry after realizing she was in critical condition.  Suddenly, I felt a suffocating burden.  I felt guilty in a way and regretted my decision to ignore her.  She was about to die.

            For some reason I kept thinking, “I know who can wake her up.”  My younger brother, Jorge, has always had a close relationship with her.  They’re inseparable when they’re together.  I stood up and looked at him, “Get your stuff ready.  Go wake Evelyn up.”  Jorge arrived in Las Vegas and called me hours later, “She woke up and clenched onto my hand.  She’s going to be alright.”  The burden quickly disappeared and I could finally breathe.  A week later I went to visit her to tell her how much I loved her and that I was glad she was ok.  I hugged her tightly and thought of how blessed I was to be given a second chance.

Diana