“Caleigh.” The words echoed in her head as she closes her eyes. The blurry image of her mother leaning over her, her hair dangling and tickling Caleigh’s face, imprinted into the inside of
Caleigh’s eyelids. Caleigh lay motionless on the mat. Her father held her mother as collapsed onto her knees with tears rolling down her cheeks.
The ambulance lights flashed through the windows and reflected on the mats and walls. Caleigh was lifted onto the stretcher and rolled out, her mother and father close behind. Caressing her cheek and patting her thigh, Caleigh's mom leaned over and kissed Caleigh's forehead. “Everything is going to
be all right…”
It had been months since the accident, and Caleigh had made a full recovery. Today was the big day. Today was the day where she would perform the very move that landed her in the hospital and almost took her life at a competition for the first time after the accident.
The judges’ green saluting flag went up, and it was time. Taking a deep breath, Caleigh stepped onto the runway and saluted her judges. She could hear her teammates, coaches, and family cheering her on. Shouts of her name echoed through the gym. All eyes were on her. She felt the stares of her opponents piercing through her. The other teams wanted her to fail, screw up, and hand them the gold medal, but it wouldn’t happen this time.
Caleigh rocked backwards and began her sprint towards the vault table. She hurtled onto the spring board and flew into the air. Her hands landed on the vault table, and she twisted. Once. Twice. Three times. Her feet touched the mat, and she stuck her landing, a smile on every face of the people she loved. The other team gaped. The crowd erupted in applause. The coaches went wild, jumping up and down shouting, “We’re going to the championships!” Caleigh saluted her judges, a grand smile
plastered on her face. Proudly marching off the mat, she didn’t need to know her score to know that she did well. And to her, the judges could take as many points they wanted from her score, but it didn’t matter. Nothing could take away her joy. Walking over to her parents, tears of joy fell down her
cheeks. Her mother and father cried and hugged her tightly. Her mother caressed her cheeks and kissed her on the forehead.
“It’s time.”
The words echoed around the dark room. Shadows pranced on the floor and walls as rain pelted the windows. Caleigh was lying motionless underneath the hospital sheets, her neck fully covered with a brace. With massive head trauma and a broken neck, Caleigh had been on life support for a couple months. It was time to let her go. While Caleigh had been living the dream of her life, her parents were living their worst nightmare. Caleigh was dying.
Pushing Caleigh’s blonde hair out of the way, Caleigh’s mother leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, her tears falling and hitting Caleigh’s cheeks. The tears slid off Caleigh’s silky skin, leaving a trail of tiny water droplets behind them. Caleigh’s mother hugged her daughter for the last time.
Stepping to the edge of the hospital bed, Caleigh’s father gently lifted Caleigh’s hand, and kissed it and holding it to his cheek for a few minutes. Tears ran down his face as his said his last goodbye. Holding hands, her mother and her father croaked the words they hoped they would never say. “Goodbye,
honey.”
The doctor nodded. After a few more beeps from the monitor, Caleigh flat lined. Her mother and father collapsed on the ground in tears. After collecting themselves, her mother and father were escorted from the room as Caleigh’s lifeless body was rolled away.
The crowds disappeared and the lights went out. Her dream was over.