Chapter 4

They woke up the next morning and lovingly embraced each other. Last night had been truly wonderful for both of them. Cheryl had never felt like she had last night and Rita had taken her to heights she'd never reached before. Reaching across her body, Cheryl started caressing Rita's nipples, and Rita responded with moaning of delight. Raising herself and moving her body over to her left Cheryl positioned herself over Rita's prone body and lowered her head towards the nipples she'd been pinching, sticking out her tongue and licking each one, then gently sucking on them before using her teeth and biting gently, then increasing the pressure until Rita begged her to stop. She looked into her new lover's eyes and saw the happiness there. She leaned in closer and they immediately embraced and began to kiss each other, their hands moving up and down each other bodies, breaking from their embrace. They both closed their eyes and let the touch and caress of each other get them to the breaking point and before either one of then knew what was happening they both exploded with orgasms, their bodies momentarily going rigid with the feeling coursing through their bodies and sending jolts of electricity-like feelings along their nervous systems.

After a few minutes Rita's body relaxed and a sigh escaped her lips, but when Cheryl went back to her mouth to give her a kiss, she got no response. Startled for a few seconds, she tried again. It was only then that she realized that her lover's chest wasn't moving with her breathing. She wasn't out of breath, or anything like that. In fact, she wasn't breathing at all.

Immediately she got off her partner and checked her carotid artery for a pulse and found none. Rita's eyes were open and not blinking. There was no reaction on her face at all. At once Cheryl reached for her cell phone. She'd set it on the nightstand yesterday evening before allowing Rita to seduce her. Now she flipped it open and dialed 911.

"911 Operator, How may I assist you?" came the voice over the speaker.

"I need an ambulance," Cheryl told her.

"Is there an emergency?"

"Yes! My girlfriend isn't breathing! I need some help!"

"Have you checked for a pulse?"

"YES! Please send someone to help her!" she pleaded.

"I've got an ambulance enroute as we speak.

"Was there an accident?"

"No. We were just getting up and she stopped moving. She'd not breathing!"

"Okay, miss. Please remain calm. The ambulance should be there shortly."

Cheryl sat on the mattress and stared at the still body of Rita. She knew she was dead. But what happened? Without thinking of what she was doing, she reached out and placed her hand on Rita's belly, hoping beyond belief that she'd been mistaken and that her lover wasn't really dead, but there was no movement at all. Tears started welling in her eyes and soon were tracking down her cheeks and dripping off her chin, landing on her lap as she sat there. She barely heard the siren and then the knock on the door as the ambulance arrived. She never heard the door to her home open and the rush of the paramedics entering the house, nor did she realize they were in the room until one of them gently helped her to her feet and walked her to a chair at the foot of the bed.

She sat there and watched as the paramedics worked on Rita's lifeless body, but she couldn't get herself to say anything. She watched as they began to pump on her chest, trying to get her heart started with no success. She never heard them speaking to each other, or to the doctor at the other end of the phone line as he told them what needed to be done. However, she did hear them say," I'm calling it at," and the young man glanced at is watch, "7:43 AM. Cause of death to be determine later."

She never moved as Rita's body was draped with a white cloth one of the paramedics had removed from the gurney they'd brought in with them. The very last thing she saw was Rita's face disappearing under that white shroud, and then she just lost all control of her body and slumped forward. If the other paramedic hadn't seen her falling forward and caught her in time, Cheryl would have broken her nose as it connected with the floor beneath her.

A week later, and two days after the funeral, Cheryl sat in the doctor's office and listened as he told her what had happened.

"There was nothing anyone could do, Miss Rhodes. I've looked at the autopsy report and it's been confirmed. Ms. Chamberlain had a brain aneurysm. The break occurred in the deepest part of her brain and she bled out. She felt no pain at all. In fact, I'm quite certain that it was almost instant."

"But, but ... how could something like this happen?" she asked. Pulling a tissue from her purse, she wiped her tear-swollen eyes, eyes that were pleading with the doctor to help her make sense of it all.

"I wish I could give you a definite answer, Miss Rhodes. These things happen and there is no warning and absolutely nothing we can do to fix it."

"But she was so ... healthy!"

"Yes, Miss Rhodes, I understand completely. However, it's not uncommon for death to be quick in something like this. The brain is a tricky thing to doctors even today. We still know so little about it and then what we do know is based on working on bodies after an aneurysm happens. There's really nothing more I can tell you."

"Thank you, doctor." She got out of her chair and headed towards the door.

"This isn't your fault, you know."

She stopped just short of the door, her hand not quite reaching the doorknob. Not turning around she spoke so softly that the doctor almost didn't hear what she had to say.

"Yes, doctor, it is my fault. I loved her." And with that said she opened the door and exited the office.

Returning to her home later that evening Cheryl opened the front door and entered into the dark structure. It was the first time to be home since Rita's death. She couldn't face it alone. Until today that is. Her intentions were to sell the place and move elsewhere. She had no idea where 'elsewhere' was right now though. All she felt was emptiness. Her heart had suffered immensely and it was still aching. There is an empty hole in her chest, where her heart once was. She felt that it hadn't been broken but had been removed. With the absence of Rita she felt that there was no reason to continue, but she also knew that she had to. It was going to be hard, for sure, but she could do it. She'd put all this behind her, once she 'felt better' and had adjusted to the loneliness. Once she came to terms of life without Rita. She'd always been strong, no matter what had happened, and she knew she could do it again.