Back to the Dream Page
Chapter 9
At The U.S. Figure Skating Championships...
"Are you sure you're ready?" Justin asks, watching Kristi pace around the backstage right before she goes on.
"Of course I am. That's a silly question," she replies.
"Then why are you pacing so much sweetie?"
"Oh, I don't know! I guess I'm just nervous."
Justin laughs and says, "Come here cutie." He opens his arms and wraps her in them, kissing her on her head. "You'll be fine. You came this far and you'll do great."
"You think so?"
"I know so. I love you Kristi. You are definitely one of a kind."
"I love you too Justin. I'm thankful for all those times we've had this past month together."
"Same here. Now, go out there and blow all those other girls away, okay?"
Kristi nods her head, kisses Justin good-bye and heads for the ice. As soon as her skates touch the ice though, Kristi realizes that everything will be okay. She smiles and skates to her starting point, focusing only on the music and her movements.
Three minutes later, she skates off the ice and right into Justin's arms.
"You did it! You were so great Kristi!" he exclaims, never feeling any prouder of his girlfriend until then.
"Thanks Justin. That means a lot. Awards are next though so we'll have to see what the judges thought."
"They aren't crazy Kristi. You'll get first for sure."
"I hope that you're right Justin."
Ten minutes later, the representative of the judges takes the center ice and speaks into the microphone. "Well ladies and gentlemen, the final scores are in. In third place is Jennifer Smith. In second place is Erin Marksworth. In first place, with a near perfect score, is Kristi Chan! Ladies, please come out and accept your awards."
Justin gives Kristi a big hug and a kiss before sending a crying Kristi out onto the ice to receive her rightfully earned medal.
After calming herself down, Kristi puts on a smile and makes her way onto the ice to take her place on the award blocks. Once there, she bends down to receive her medal around her neck and straightens up to wave at the audience and blow a smiling Justin a kiss. 'Thank you God for giving me the strength to make it this far and for sending me an angel in Justin. Now I know that dreams do come true, even if they are love dreams or ice dreams,' she thinks just as a gun shot echoes through the stadium and she feels a painful impact in her chest.
A second shot echoes throughout the arena just as it registers in Justin's mind what happened. He runs out onto the ice, skidding here and there, but mainly focused on getting to Kristi, who has fallen down on the block. Justin is the first to get to her so he climbs the blocks to get to the platform she is on. "Kristi?" he asks, scared that she may be dead.
"Justin..." she manages to get out before coughing up some blood.
Justin gathers her into his arms and cradles her there, trying to put pressure on her wound to slow down the bleeding. 'Oh my God, the blood flow won't slow down. Please God, don't take her away from me yet!' he thinks, trying his best to comfort her and find some way of saving her at the same time.
"Sir, we have called the paramedics. They should be here soon. Try to keep her conscious," some distant voice says into Justin's ear.
"Kristi, please don't leave me. Open your eyes and look at me," Justin says, hoping to keep Kristi focused on him and away from the pain.
"I... Love... You..." she gets out before closing her eyes again.
"I love you too Kristi but please don't go. You'll make it through this as you have everything else. Please, please don't follow that light." Justin begins to feel the muscles in Kristi's body slowly relaxing to a point where he could almost feel her becoming absolutely limp in his arms. "No! Kristi, please, stay with me."
Kristi opens her eyes one last time and seems to softly smile at Justin before closing her eyes one last time, just before she let out one last breath of life.
"Kristi! No!" Justin exclaims, cradling Kristi's now lifeless body in his arms, kissing her on her forehead, and wetting her with his tears.
The paramedics arrive shortly after and feel for Kristi's pulse. "I'm sorry sir but it's too late. She's passed away."
Justin shakes his head in disbelief and gives a struggle when the team of paramedics tries lifting Kristi out of his arms and onto the stretcher. JC and Joey grab Justin though, and restrain his struggles by giving him a big hug until Justin eventually collapses into their embrace and begins a sob that neither guy knew he would ever forget.
Four days later, Justin still cannot shake off feeling so depressed or numb but finds himself walking down the aisle of a church to say good-bye to the only girl he ever truly loved. He takes a seat in between JC and Lance in the third row from the front and feels an even greater heartache begin as his eyes rest on a picture of Kristi her family displayed for the service. In it, Kristi is smiling her beautiful smile as the sun gives her an unearthly look. 'This must be what she looks like now... An actual angel,' Justin thinks, closing his eyes as he feels the tears build up once again.
"Come on Justin, you can hold up through this, I know you can," JC whispers, taking Justin's hand and giving it an encouraging squeeze.
"If only I could have done something. Kristi would be alive today if I had only done something," Justin responds.
"J, no one could have done anything. Not even the police had detected William sitting among the crowd, ready to finish something he had started months ago. At least know that he will be sitting in jail for the rest of his life for it," Chris says from a few seats down.
"That isn't enough! Kristi meant a whole lot more than the price William will be paying. She didn't deserve to die, especially not like that. How could anyone do something like take another person's life?"
"It takes a lot for someone to be able to do that, and I think that's also why William tried killing himself shortly after he shot Kristi. His purpose was probably one that could be called romantic in a way-"
"Romantic? There is nothing romantic about killing a wonderful human being Chris!"
"Shh... Justin, I merely meant that he thought the old fashioned way by thinking that if he can't have the girl, no one can. Then he decided to just be with her in the afterlife where you wouldn't be. You were his threat yet he didn't go after you too. Did you even realize that?"
"He has a point Justin," Joey adds. "Besides, Kristi would want you to move on and have happiness in your life by now. Instead, you are shutting out practically everyone and you have your mom sick to death with worry about whether or not you will be all right. You need to pull your life back together Justin."
"If only it was that easy Joey. You don't know what hell I'm going through. Kristi was the love of my life, the person I wanted to spend all eternity with and now William has taken that possibility away from me! How else am I supposed to think or feel? Be all happy because he has ruined my happiness with her? I don't think so."
"Guys, stop! The priest is about ready to talk and I don't think we should stay on this topic anyway. Just please, be respectful of each other and especially the memory of Kristi today. That's all anyone can ask of anyone here right now," JC says, effectively quieting the guys down.
Justin sits and listens to the whole service, fighting the urge to jump up and run out of the building. However, that urge transforms itself into the need to get up there and talk about Kristi just as the priest asks if anyone else would like to share their thoughts on Kristi. After hearing three relatives and two friends talk about Kristi, Justin slowly stands up and makes his way to the podium. Once there, he faces the people gathered there and begins to share his experiences and moments with Kristi. When he is through, there isn't a single tear in the crowd, including his own. Justin makes it back to his seat and finally lets go of all that he was holding inside of himself for the past couple of days, vowing to never forget Kristi and how she changed his life for the better.