Let It Rain (Part 3) (Final)

“Jessica is ready to make the jump. How will Leo try to save her? Will he succeed? Find out in this final part of Let It Rain.”

Continued From: PART 1 | PART 2

Leo let out a sigh of relief as he heard Jessica’s voice. What Jessica wanted to do at that very minute was to tell Leo that he was the only person she would be sad to leave behind if her plan was successful. She had rehearsed saying this to Leo before he arrived, but now that he was here, she couldn’t let out a single word.

“How long have you been here?” Leo asked Jessica softly. She didn’t reply. He knew she had been on that bridge for a long time. He blamed himself for not taking her seriously the night before. It didn’t matter now, because now Jessica was only thinking of how perfect the timing was. She thought it was the time. Her time. So she finally raised her head to look at their surroundings. The traffic was light. The sun was coming down at the other side of the bridge. It was fairly quiet. It was beautiful, Jessica thought. How peaceful, this time of day, how perfect.

Jessica rose slowly from the pavement and made her way to the railing of the bridge. With some effort, she climbed to the top of the rail. Leo watched all of this quietly from where he was before. His face was solemn. Now Jessica was standing on the top of the rail with one hand holding on to one of the vertical suspender cables that were supporting the deck. There was no one else on the pedestrian lane other than the two of them. It was like how Jessica had envisioned the day to be. She took a deep breath and looked around. “Look how beautiful the view is, Leo,” she said without looking at him. It surprised her that she felt more calm now standing on the top of the rail. Leo didn’t shift his gaze. What Leo was looking at, was Jessica’s back. She was wearing her favorite coat. The one she would wear when it rained. But it wasn’t raining now. It made Leo sad.

It was probably then that Leo knew what to do. Slowly he made his way to the railing and climbed to the top of it next to Jessica. Jessica was on his right. He could have grabbed her arm and dragged her back to safety, but he didn’t. From where he was standing, he saw the water far down below. Bluish, rippled and sparkled under the golden sun. Scary, yet inviting. When he turned around, he saw the sun was partly behind the clouds now. Soon it would be gone completely and it would be dark. Gone with it, would probably be himself, and the woman next to him.

“I’m not scared anymore, Leo,” Jessica said suddenly. This brought Leo’s view back to her. “I’m not scared anymore,” she repeated, looking down to the water far down below. He continued watching her. She looked calm to him. Calmer than he ever saw her. As if a load had been lifted from her. As he watched her, she turned to him and smiled. “I knew you wouldn’t stop me”.

“I wouldn’t,” he replied, softly, but almost instantly. “I would go with you,” he added. She knew he meant it. It made her ache all over, so she quickly turned away.

“This is all I think about, Leo,” Jessica said, again looking down to the river below. “This,” she added, more faint this time. And then she grew quiet. Leo waited for her to say something. When she didn’t, his mind began to wander again. As his mind wandered, he began to understand why he was on the top of the rail with her. Began to understand why she always liked it when it rained. Began to understand why rain was so calming to her. And he knew, he understood, that he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from whispering to the rain if she was gone. Whispering, “It’s raining, Jessie, and I miss you”. With this understanding, he moved closer to her and took her hand. She flinched a little, but she let him.

It was then that he knew what he wanted to say. Tightening his grasp on her hand, he said firmly, “Let’s live”. At this, Jessica turned to Leo. She tried to study his face, trying to find something of him she always recognized. What she found, was something she didn’t understand. She thought she was seeing something different in his eyes. She felt his grasp tightened. She wanted to let go. To let go of his hand and to tell him to continue living. Without her. She thought of his sorrowful smiles, his worried face. She always thought there were sorrows even in his brightest smiles. She couldn’t let him die with her. She just wanted him to live. To feel happy where she couldn’t.

“The pills….” Jessica started, her voice shaky. She tried to keep her composure and stay calm. She was only able to do so for a few moments before tears fell from her eyes and she started sobbing. In her sob, she said, “The pills don’t make me happy anymore”.

Now Jessica’s vision had become blurry from all the tears in her eyes. Her grip of the steel rope suspender cable that supported the deck started to loosen. But at the same time, Leo’s grip of her hand became firmer.

“I’ll make you happy,” Leo said. Even so, he wasn’t sure how. It surprised him how easy this came out of his mouth. It sounded so sure and confident, even to himself. He moved closer to her, very carefully, and grabbed her by the waist. “Hold onto me. Let’s live, I’ll make you happy,” he whispered to her. She held onto him.

“Ready?” he asked her. She nodded. On the count of three, they leaped from the rail and onto the pavement together. Now Jessica started to sob again. Her feet became weak and she fell to her knees. He fell to his knees with her.

“It’s going to be okay,” Leo said in Jessica’s ear. He wasn’t even sure of it himself, but it didn’t matter, he thought. The sun had gone down into the hiding, the sky to the west was filled with different colors. The clouds were yellow and orange. The background sky pale blue. Very soon it was going to be dark. As Leo was looking at the direction of the sunset, the roadway lights came on. He looked around and saw the lights on the rail had come on too. Now he looked up to the towers and watched the lights on them coming on one by one. As the daylight was disappearing, all the fancy lights were beginning to illuminate the bridge. The bridge was starting to come alive, Leo thought. He watched all of this with a sense of hope. He turned to Jessica to catch her watching one of the towers. She had stopped crying, but her cheeks were still wet from tears.

What Jessica was thinking, at that very moment, was the lighthouse from her childhood. The bridge towers reminded her of it. She remembered the wish she made when she climbed the hill to that lighthouse. Now she closed her eyes and made the wish once again, hoping this time it would be different. As soon as she finished, she heard Leo’s voice, “Look, Jessie,” he said eagerly. She opened her eyes. “It’s starting to rain,” he added excitedly, holding out an open hand to feel the sprinkle of rain on his palm.

It would be a long way back for them if it rained, Leo thought. But then he looked at her, and saw how calm she looked now since the leap. Leo thought it would all probably turn out okay anyway. She had her favorite coat on. So let it rain. Let it rain.

 

“It’s true we can’t all have a brand new start. But from now on we can always create a brand new ending.”

– THE END –

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