The wind blew through the tenuous connection until her voice returned on the line. “I’m glad you called me by mistake. Sometimes, when you’re out there helping people, you still feel alone. It can become almost untenable, such as tonight. Do you understand? Like constantly emptying your cup without having it filled.”
Taken back by what she’d just revealed, a confession that rang so similar to his own, was like putting the mirror right in the face of his suffering.
“Yes, the more it empties, the more torment replaces it, without it having any way out.”
“Yes. Torment is the right word for it, don’t you think?”
Sam didn’t know how to answer when she laughed, even if it was so sad. “I’m so sorry to swamp you with my melancholy, whoever you are. I’m sure you have better things to do than listen to me ramble. You must call your brother, wish him a happy new year and go celebrate with him.”
The more she spoke, the more her distress materialized in his mind. In a weird twist, destiny had linked them both, and that voice acted as a buoy, holding him up just before he was about to drown, although Sam feared she was drowning as well.
“And you?” Sam wasn’t ready to break the connection yet. Part of him was still gasping for air and wanted to keep breathing.
“I need to go to work. I’m on my way now, although I’m so tired, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do my shift, even less finish it. I fear I won’t be able…”
That simple sentence would’ve sounded innocuous if not for how her soft voice hollowed out, a sign that it would soon fall silent, and he couldn’t let her go yet.
“Won’t be able to what? Talk to me.” He sounded brasher than he wished, but without knowing who or where she was, he only had his voice to keep her on the line.
“It’s like someone has chipped away at what’s left of my heart. I don’t think I can go on anymore.”
Beyond the words, it was the tears and void he sensed that made Sam shiver. This stranger echoed the exact sentiment that had been poisoning him. However, why did it enrage him to hear it from this woman when he accepted this fact for himself?
“Go on doing what?”
Through a sigh, Sam detected a faint sob. “I lost another one. When I reached him, he was cold and dead, all alone in this freezing weather. I thought I could save him, but he was already gone.” Another sob came through the line, clogging Sam’s throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have burdened you. I need to leave now.”
“Wait! Please. Are you going to be okay?”
The woman didn’t answer, and it was clear she forced a smile to her voice when she replied. “Whoever you are, I wish you a happy new year.”
“Don’t hang up!” The woman didn’t hear his sharp order. Why had her last word sounded like the same goodbye he’d wanted to give Lazarus only moments ago?
The protector inside him, as well as some unknown emotions he’d yet to explain, sent a string of warnings through him; if he didn’t act, if he didn’t reach the woman who had unknowingly pulled him from taking his own life, she’d vanish, and bring him down with her. One way or another, he’d found a fellow companion, and he needed to get to her.
It didn’t change his decision, but now, before he could find solace, he had one last mission to accomplish, one last soul to save.
The End
