chasing cars

"If I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?"

Dylan wasn't really sure what to do next. He knew two things: it was ridiculously hot outside and his best friend was having a complete breakdown on the scorching pavement. Dylan wasn't even sure what had happened. It had been such a typical day, work and meeting up for a quick basketball game afterwards. They both had gotten off work early and the sun was still beaming down on them when they started playing. Typical game, Chris was raining threes and Dylan was struggling just to score half the points Chris was.

Dylan remembered noticing the sky. The sun was still fairly bright but a few dark clouds had definitely started to settle in. He remembered thinking how nice some rain would feel right now. It was a water break. While Dylan was guzzling water and staring at the clouds, Chris was checking his voicemail. As Dylan was capping his water bottle, trying to proactively visualize himself blocking just one of Chris's shots, he heard the sound. It was hard to describe -- human but unlike any sound he'd heard anyone make before, loud but quiet at the same time. It was the sound of knees hitting pavement and Chris's body trying to gasp for breath as his brain shut down. It was the sound of utter heart break.

So here they were. Chris kneeling on the pavement, hyperventilating. Dylan standing over him. He wasn't even sure what had happened yet, but he could put enough together. One of those voicemails was the bearer of terrible news. His daughter, his wife, his parents, his brother. Something had happened. Dylan had grown up with the family too and he wasn't even really sure wanted to know what had happened and to who. But that wasn't even an issue he had to deal with right now.

Dylan glanced around but the court was completely empty. He thought he should feel embarrassed or even worried, but he didn't. There wasn't room for that right now. There was concern for Chris, there was empathy for Chris, there was fear about what caused Chris's to react this way. Chris's gasps for breath were steadily turning into sobs and Dylan couldn't bear much more. He wanted to comfort his friend, but he didn't have much experience here. There were words he should probably say, or some comforting gesture. Or maybe this was one of the situations he was supposed to take charge and hustle Chris into some less public place.

Yet all of that was beyond Dylan's know how. He thought of his family, how he would feel if something horrible happened to them. Dylan understood that breathing would be hard, that any higher level of functioning would be nearly impossible. That no words would be soothing. So he did the only thing that did feel right. He knelt down on the pavement right beside his friend, ignoring the pain of the hot, rough pavement on his knees. Dylan knelt by Chris, close enough for their shoulders to touch. And he waited. He would be right there beside him when Chris was ready. Everything else could wait.