“She’s my daughter after all.”
I look at Erik for a moment before looking out at the sea like he did. The skies are really cloudy today, so there isn’t a layer of sparkles along the top of the water like there should be. A few birds flying overhead dive down and glide across it, probably catching fish with their beaks or something.
We can hear somebody driving across the bridge behind us. We turn around to get a look at who’s passing; some guy in a green off-road jeep. As he’s getting close to us, he sticks his head out of the window and yells, “Hey, jump off!” He quickly picks up speed and drives pass us.
“Asshole.”
I can’t stand people like that. I look at Erik to see how he is, but he seems unfazed by his words. I should still ask just in case.
“You doin’ alright?”
“I’m fine.” He looks at our parked cars on the other side, then at me, “Really man, I’m fine. I don’t let stuff like that get to me.”
Erik’s an honest man, so I’ll take it word on it. However, I should still check and see how’s he’s doing all around. We turn back around and look out at sea again.
“How long has it been since that day, Erik? ‘Bout two months?”
“Two and a half.”
“How you doing? Mentally, I mean?”
Erik tenses up a bit, but he takes his time trying to get his thoughts together; a sign of improvement.
“I’m still having dreams about ‘her’ every now and then, but they’re not as bad now. Before, I would reply that night on the bridge and somehow, I would see her walking up to me and trying to stop me.”
“Does she?”
“… Not all the time. However, there was one specific night that really helped me move on.”
“Another dream?”
“Yeah. I was on the other side of the railing like always, but instead of my deceased wife walking up to me, it was you.”
A year ago, Erik lost his wife to a sickness. He put up a front to act like nothing happened, but it slowly ate away at him. One day, he finally broke down and attempted to take his own life on this bridge. He hesitated. That same night, I drove by the bridge and saw him.
“I was in your dream?”
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