Sorrow

Trixie: Jake. . . where's my daughter?

Jake: She wasn't mine, the little girl I held in my arms, but I had known her since she was born and so in my mind she was family.

I honestly don't know what happened. One moment she was a bright, smiling, happy child and then in the next, I saw her take her last breath.

She was born with a heart defect and doctors had told us that she wouldn't live to see her second birthday, so everyday after that we all knew she was living on borrowed time, but we had pushed it into the back of minds. We all hoped if we didn't think about it, that maybe it wasn't true.

"Uncle Jakey, Uncle Spud," I remember her last words. "I don't feel so well," she told me with her hand on her chest. My eyes grew wide with fear as I saw her eyes flutter close before she collapsed to the ground.

I tried to wake her, I swear, but I already knew she was gone from us as Spud had gone to call 911.

She wasn't mine, that sweet, happy child that laid in my arms. And in that moment, I thought I could know no greater pain, but I was wrong, because as you look at me, your eyes so full of trust, I know I'm about to see your own heart die, because no parent should ever have to bury their child.