Christian held Selea close, inhaling the scent of the perfume he had just brought her for her birthday. She sighed and shifted slightly closer before looking up into his eyes and whispering into his ear, "I really ought to be getting home."
He smiled, his eyes dancing with love.
"Can't the dogs wait?" he said, referring to the two mixed breed puppies she owned. She shook her head.
"No, my babies need me."
"This baby needs you."
She hit him playfully before kissing him on the cheek.
"I'll see you after the concert then. Will you be there?" he asked. She nodded, smiling softly.
"I promise. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Love you."
"Love you too."
Christian gave her a loving glance before she left the party. She smiled her familiar little grin as she went out the door. Little did he know, that she would break that very promise.

The phone rang shrilly through the air, jolting Christian out of his peaceful slumber. He groped around in the darkness for the cordless phone kept by his bedside. He glanced at the constant blinking red of the alarm clock. 3:34 in the morning. He pressed the talk button.
"Hello?" he murmured sleepily.
"Hello, it's Constable Stevens here," Christian's eyes flew open and he stiffened, his heart pounding.
"Yeah," he continued cautiously, swiping one hand through his mussed blonde hair.
"I'm sorry to say but your girlfriend, Selea Gabriel, has been in a very serious collision involving an oil tanker. She has petrol burns as well as a fractured skull and a pierced lung. I'm sorry, but she's in a very critical condition and the doctor's can't save her."
As the officer talked, Christian slid to his knees to the floor. He choked back a sob before asking.
"Which hospital?"
"Middlemore. My condolences are with you. I'll talk to you at the hospital."
The steady tone of the phone told that the man had hung up.
"No," Christian whispered as the full impact of reality began sinking in. "NO!!!"
Then, wiping a tear from his eye, he grabbed his car keys and raced out the front door.

He rushed in the hospital doors and looked around for a nurse. Spotting one, he ran over and grabbed the surprised nurse's arm.
"Where is she?" he asked, sobbing.
"Where is who?"
"Selea Gabriel."
"She's in ward 106 but I'm sorry, you can't go in there…sir…sir!"
Christian didn't listen. He flung the doors open. None of the five doctors looked up.
"Oh no, oh God." He sobbed as they struggled to get her breathing. "Selea!"
She finally started wheezing, her breath coming and going in shallow gasps. Her eyes flickered open. A doctor noticed him for the first time.
"Excuse me, sir, but you're not allowed in here."
"But…Selea…"
"She's in safe hands."
Christian struggled from the doctor's steely grip, his arms reaching towards his girlfriend.
"No, no, Selea!"
Selea's eyes flickered open and she looked weakly in his direction.
"Christian?" she murmured hoarsely. Christian broke free of the doctor's hold and took Selea's hand.
She shook her head.
"I'm…dying…" she gasped. Tears flowed freely from Christian's eyes.
"No, baby. We have plans. We were going to have a future together. Look," he said, holding up Selea's hand. "Remember when I proposed to you. You can get through this, and we'll have a big wedding. Please, honey, you've just got to."
Tears pricked Selea's eyes and Christian wiped them away. Her breathing became shallower and shallower. Christian gripped her hand tighter.
"I…love…you…" she said in a barely audible whisper.
"Don't do this to me, baby." He watched as her eyes closed and her breathing stopped. He felt powerless. A peaceful serenity washed over her once pained expression and Christian knew she was gone. He choked on the fiery red tears that lashed his cheeks.
"I love you too, baby," he whispered. "I love you too."

Christian accelerated, trying to out-drive his problems. The words that kept running through his head were my baby's dead, my baby's dead. Tears blurred his eyes and half-obscured his vision. He couldn't think clearly, and didn't even register the car coming from the opposite direction swerving all over the road. The impact was great, and Christian blacked out, thinking about Selea.

He opened his eyes and everything appeared hazy. He rubbed them but the blur wouldn't go away. He looked up as a figure approached, and rushed into Selea's outstretched arms.
"Oh, baby, you came back!"
She shook her head sadly. He looked at her curiously, his eyes misting up with tears again.
"No. Look."
She pointed behind them. Christian twisted his head around to see his Porsche completely destroyed with a figure, which he noticed was himself, slumped limply over the steering wheel. His fellow band members had just stopped in their tour bus and were running towards the lifeless body. He looked back at Selea.
"Am I dead?"
She nodded. He sighed.
"Now we have forever together."
"No, it isn't your time."
His eyes reflected sadness.
"But…you…"
"It was my time to leave. Just remember one thing. I love you and always will, don't forget that."
"I won't ever forget that."
Sleep overwhelmed him and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again a split second later, he saw Ben's face peering anxiously at him.
"Christian, oh my God, don't scare me like that."
Christian put his hand to his head and felt blood. His head pounded as sirens roared down the road.

Everything was covered in black. The coffin, the clothes, too dreary for Christian's taste. The only spot of colour at all was a single red rose that he had laid across Selea's black satin dress. She looked beautiful, as if she was still asleep. The other three members of the band were singing "Like A Rose". Christian didn't join in. He kept his gaze on Selea's smooth pale skin and the silky black hair that cascaded around her waist. A girl approached him. She smiled sadly.
"Hello, I'm Pal. Selea was my best friend."
I was her best friend. And her lover, Christian thought sadly.
"I'm Christian." He replied crisply. Pal smiled but Christian just stared at her blankly.
"Maybe I could ring you some…"
"No."
Pal shrugged, the small black dress setting off her sapphire eyes.
"I know it's too soon. I'll be over there with my mother if you want me."
She moved away quickly. A blinding flash filled the room, blinding him. No one else seemed to have noticed. He blinked, and on reopening his eyes, he saw Selea. He reached out to touch her, hold her, but his hand went straight through.
"It's time you moved on."
"No," he whispered, catching a few curious glances from passer-bys.
"Yes, I'll be here if you need me but in the meantime, Pal is someone who I can entrust to you. She will love you exactly like I have. In time, though your heart may still ache for me, you will love her to. Promise me that?"
"I promise. I'd promise you the world if I had to."
She smiled, then faded away until she disappeared completely. Christian blinked back tears. He looked over at Pal and as she laughed, he could see Selea's smile on her face, the way Selea flicked her hair when she was happy. Though he could never love anyone as much as Selea, he decided to give it a go.
Christian smiled back before making his way over to Pal.