Romeo

Author’s Note: This is a semi-fiction story loosely based upon the true event. Some names and details have been added or changed

Jared Johnson stared with hollow eyes at the white tiled ceiling of his hospital room in the New York Presbyterian hospital. He was numb. He didn’t feel much of anything, not even the throbbing concussions that wracked his skull, nor the numerous abrasions all over his body.

All he felt was the swirling torrent of emotions that made him blind to the blazing lights overhead, deaf to the steady beeping of his heart monitor. He couldn’t get it out of his mind. Never in his thirteen years had he witnessed his horse falter beneath him or lose his equanimity. Now Romeo was dead, and he, fighting for his life in the intensive care unit.

How had it happened? He shut his eyes and played it over in his head.

“Jared, hurry up! We’re gonna miss our lesson!’ Shouted Julius Stanton. He sat on the back of his dapple grey stallion, Windstorm. Next to him, flicking about her brown hair impatiently, much like her palomino mare, was Maria Lantu. Nothing made him happier than the sight of his two best friends, beckoning him to go to his favorite place, Cedar Lane Stables. The three roe their horses every Tuesday to the large estate nestled between the quaint apartment buildings of Lindenwood, Queens.

He smiled, stuffed down his piece of toast, and ran outside to tack his own horse.

They trotted briskly down Linden Boulevard. The crisp October air revealed the true arrival of Autumn, Summer’s demise. Jared was in his element; He reveled in the feeling of flight on horseback. He loved the wind whipping through Romeo’s chestnut mane. But he would never tell anyone. The three friends laughed in a state of euphoria, speeding to a canter down the verdant sides of the road.

He glanced at Maria next to him, looking radiant as ever. They had been friends since they first began riding at Cedar Lane in second grade. Over the years, he couldn’t help but to grow infatuated with her. When they both bought their first horses six years ago, they even agreed to name them Romeo and Juliet. The horses became best friends as well. Maria turned her attention toward Jared and he looked away quickly.

Abruptly, Romeo edged toward the pavement. Jared could feel the horse’s muscles tightening beneath him. He jerked on the reins and Romeo began tossing his head. Why was he acting so on edge?

It was true that for a seven-year-old horse, he abounded with energy, and opted to leap triumphantly over anything in his path. In fact, he was a blue-ribbon championship jumping horse. Today however, he was unusually jittery. Jared felt a knot in his stomach.

They rode on until they reached an intersection, indicative of the urban traffic. Lights flashed and horns honked. Tractor trailers grumbled impatiently to a stand-still.

The three lined their horses along the curb of the protesting four-lane street.

“Wait for the black car to go by . . . Now!” Shouted Maria, spurring Juliet onward. They followed in single file, quickly weaving between the oncoming traffic that began to accumulate in all four lanes.

They stood on the grassy median, waiting for a red light that would allow them to cross into South Conduit Avenue. There it was ahead. The stables.

The light blinked red. A yellow taxi cab pulled up next to them.

“Finally!” Said Julius.

They started walking their horses across the empty lanes, but something held Jared back. He felt it again, panic rising up in his chest. He leaned over, patting Romeo’s copper neck, and noticed his eyes. The whites were showing; They looked feverish.

“Come on Jared, the light won’t last forever!” Maria yelled from the other side of the street.

And then it happened. The moment that would change one life and end another.

Romeo reared up, whinnying in agitation. Jared clung to the reins desperately. But he lost control completely when the horse attempted to leap over the roof of the taxi next to them. He was thrown out of the saddle and the last thing he heard before his head slammed into the pavement was Maria screaming from the side of the road. He crumpled on the curb and the world went black.

Romeo would have made it over the roof if it weren’t for the jagged corners of the hail light. Crimson streams ran down the windshield before the horse slammed into it. The glass shattered into thousands of bloody shards over the driver. They glistened frostily on the road onto where Romeo tumbled, lifeless, beside Jared.

Julius told him later what had happened, all the painful details. He lay inconsolably for days, choking in his own despair. It was only after he was transferred from Jamaica Hospital Medical Center that he spoke to anyone. But by then, he was cold and numb as he was now. About his new room there flourished a vast collection of flower bouquets, cards, and ‘get well’ balloons. What he treasured most and feared most was the card on his bedside table form Julius and Maria. It bore the image of Romeo on the inside, proudly wearing his jumping ribbons. Ironic, he thought, that jumping would be the death of him.

No one knew what made him do it. Even Jared didn’t. They said the traffic and the noise spooked the horse, but he knew it wasn’t true. They took the same route every week for years.

But what did it matter? Would knowing what made him do it bring him back? No.

Juliet lost her Romeo. She wasn’t the same again. He lost the companion he had raised since youth. He didn’t care at all for his own injuries. They meant nothing to him.

Over time, he knew he would overcome the death of Romeo. His best friends would be there for him, and help him move on. He might even get another horse one day. He might even live to get out of the hospital. But he knew that forever he would be wondering why they couldn’t have made it across the street, just beyond the fateful intersection to the stables, and ride as a team once again.