All Your Firsts Without Me

by L.M. Terry

wondering about the accident, aren’t you? I don’t like to think about it. It changed everything. It happened on the day he asked me to move in with him and Kaden. He stopped at the mall on his way home to purchase a yellow starburst quilt for my new room. He wanted it to be a cheerful, bright space since I had spent so many years sleeping in a dark, cold, concrete room. While he was there, an armed man entered the building and began shooting shoppers. David was on the other side of the mall at the time the active shooter call rang through the building. He didn’t hide with everyone else. He didn’t flee. No. He ran right towards the man. David saved many lives that day. He managed to take the shooter down, killing him with one shot but not before a bullet grazed his spinal cord, instantly paralyzing him. That day killed his career as a police officer, but it didn’t destroy his spirit. My therapist took me to the hospital to visit him once he was stable. When I walked in, he smiled at me like nothing had changed. The guilt almost crippled me. He made me sit on the edge of his bed, his hand wrapped tightly around my fingers. He told me yes, he was there for me, but it was not my fault. He was glad he was there. He said helping people was what he lived for and because he was there, he saved lives. He didn’t say because of me he lost his ability to walk, instead he said everything happens for a reason and how happy he was to be able to have more time to spend with Kaden and me. ...