Human Importance

What if all the best choices you made were nothing more than a dream for you to wake from.

 " Hey Tom, are you gonna be on time?" A voice over the phone and asked sounding impatient.  The inside of the car was black, the only light coming from a glow of the clock and his cell phone in his hand.  His free hand instead of being and steering wheel, was too busy popping pills and throwing them into a cup holder, his hand quickly returning to the steering wheel.

" yeah, I'd be there a few minutes, why are you riding me so badly?" Tom said as he turned his right signal on, carelessly trying to move over before checking if anyone was in the way.  The horn of a car in the lane next to him blared stopping Tom from side swiping it.  Moving over quickly back to his own lane, he waited until he was safe till he moved over to the next lane; his body still in shock from what could have happened. 

"Yo man, are you good?  What happened?"  the voice asked

"Yea man, I'm doing good, just almost had a bad incident, but I'm good."  Tom said trying to calm himself as well.

"Tom? Are you there. Tom?  Can you hear me?" the voice cried getting more and more frantic.

"Jase, can you hear me? I'm here, I'm fine I'll be there in a few minutes."  he said

The phone died with a click, and still while driving he looked at it, shrugging it off he just figured that he lost his signal.  "Too bad, I'll see him in a few seconds anyway." he said aloud to himself.  In what seemed like seconds he was pulling up to a spot in front of a group of three people.  One of them was his friend Jason, another his fiancé Kelly and one woman that he hadn't known.  Parking his car and stepping out he smiled and he walked to his friend.

"Hey man, it’s about time you got here. You had me worried when your line went dead."  Jason said when tom was in close enough to hear him.  Shaking Jason's hand he smiled. 

"My line went dead?"  he questioned halfheartedly.

"You remember my fiancé Kelly, this is her friend Jenna.  Jenna, this great guy is my best buddy Tom."  Jason said as he oversold his friend.  An ear to hear grin as he watched them continue his introductions.   As they spoke the sound of an ambulance siren rang through his Tom's ears.  turning to look around the crowded city streets, he saw not even an emergency vehicle in sight. 

The feel of Jason's hand on his shoulder startled him back to reality. 

"Are you ok man?  What’s wrong?"  Jason asked as he looked at the girls.

"Yea I'm fine just, I just thought I heard something.  So, what’s on the agenda for tonight?"

Tom asked as he tried to summon the proper amount of enthusiasm, something not feeling right inside deep. 

"Well are you guys up for a movie?  Kelly asked she received a bunch of halfhearted agreement from everyone.  Then the two couples began their walk to the movie theater.  As they walked through the streets Jenna and Tom made their conversation.

"So, Kelly told me that you’re in sales, that must be interesting.  do you like what you do?  are you happy with life?"  she asked the questions just spilling out. 

"I love my job though it reminds me a lot of Frank Sinatra 'that's life'.  I’ll be in the green moment and in the yellow the next.  I do like what i do."  he tried to lie as smoothly as possible, he hoped she believed him.  "How about you? What do you do? are you happy?"

she laughed before she answered, Tom wasn't sure if it was a laugh because she saw through his facade.

"I followed my passion of editing.  I couldn't imagine having a better job, i get to read for a living."  she began gushing before she consciously stopped herself.

It took Tom not even half the walk to realize that his life was empty.  His apartment was empty, he had always been too busy trying to make a buck that he forgot to even find someone to love.  He was thirty-five and had no wife, no girlfriend, no kids, not even a dog.  'Are you happy' ran in his head causing him to look at Jenna.  The sounds of the emergency sirens rang out through his head as he turned to look around to spot the truck. 

As he looked around he realized he wasn't on the street anymore but sitting on a comfy chair in a dark theater, his hand being held by Jenna's.  the credits flashed past the screen as the lights began to grow brighter. 

"Wasn't that such a great movie?" Jenna asked as she snuggled up against his arms as the two couples left the theater. 

Hearing the ambulance again this time, another sound was added.  a deep voice rang through his head.  "Are you ok?" "can you hear me." 

"Jason, did you say something? Tom asked as his friend was caught off guard, too busy with Kelly to realize at first Tom was talking to him.

"Nah man sorry, are you sure you’re ok, you have been kind of off all day."  Jason commented silencing Tom in his tracks.

the night was cool as Tom walked hand in hand with Jenna, the group heading to a nice restaurant nearby.  He closed his eyes to enjoy the moment and take in everything, his location completely changing again when his eyes opened back up.  Now laying in a bed, a strange pressure on his left arm.  he looked to see Jenna sleeping peacefully as his arm was wrapped around her.  Closing his eyes contentedly as strange dream filled his mind.  He awoke to a white room, bright light and pain.  the sound of a constant beeping, a quick slip in the beats every couple of seconds.

it sounded like there were at least five people around him, all torturing him.  what was this happening to him, after such a nice day. 

"The other man in the accident has finally stabilized.  what’s wrong with this one. " a woman in a white coat stained with blood and a face mask covering half her face said to a tall man who stood over him. 

"I don't want to lose this guy, c'mon let’s get another dosage of pain med's and start chest compression."  as soon as the man spoke the beeping machine faltered completely, the beat no longer pulsing now only steady.  with a final breath, the only thing in his mind were the words.  'Are you happy?' before he closed his eyes.

Opening his eyes again tom was greeted by the beautiful sight of his Jenna in his arms.  "Good morning.  Wasn't that a fun night?" she asked with a smile.