Based on and containing “I Hear Leesha” as performed by Michael W. Smith in its entirety
and containing a portion of “The Last Unicorn” as performed by America   

The ringing of the phone jerked him awake.

He sat up, shaking his head, looking all around to find the offensive noise.

Finally, his gaze landed on his cell phone, lying on the nightstand next to the hotel bed.

He reached out, picking it up and flipping it open before bringing it to his ear and relaxing back against the pillows.

“Talk to me.”

The next thing he knew, he was walking down the hallway, a dial tone in his ear.

He flipped the phone closed and stopped moving, staring down as his fingers traced over the smooth casing.

Leesha

He bit his lip, trying his best to keep his cool.

“Hey, man.  You okay?”

He looked up quickly, surprised to find Chris standing in front of him.

The older man grinned.  “The last thing we need is for some tabloid reporter to get pictures of you standing half naked in the hotel hallway . . .”  He paused, his gaze moving over his friend’s face.  “Looking like you just lost a Grammy award.”  Brown eyes narrowed in concern.  “What’s going on?  Are you all right?”

“It’s Leesha . . .”  He took a shaky breath and closed his eyes.

“Who?”

“Leesha.”  He shook his head.  “Never mind.  You don’t know.  Is Johnny in his room?”

“Uh, I think so.  If he’s not, you have his phone number.”  Chris watched as he walked past and down the hall.  “Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m not sure yet.”  He waved as he turned the corner toward the management rooms.

He found the room number he was looking for and knocked.

The door was pulled open and an extremely tired-looking Johnny Wright peered out at him from underneath the security chain.

“J . . . I swear, somebody had better be dying.”

He flinched . . . and lowered his head when he felt the first tear escape.

Johnny’s eyes widened.  “Whoa . . . are you okay, kid?”

His eyes wouldn’t leave the carpet and he shook his head.  “Can I come in?”  His scratchy voice came out in a whisper.  “Please?”

“Hang on a sec.”  The door closed and he could hear the chain being removed, then the door was opened for him to walk through.

“Justin . . . what’s going on?”

“It’s Leesha . . .”  He couldn’t go any further, leaning against the wall and sliding down until he was on the floor, his legs hugged against his chest, crying into the fabric covering his knees.

Johnny stood there, staring at him in shock, before shaking his head and reaching for the room phone, punching in a number.  “Round the guys up and get down here, pronto.”

Minutes later, the entire group was crowded into the room, watching in amazement as their youngest member fought against the sobs wracking his body.

Johnny looked at each of them.  “Who’s Leesha and what did she do to him?  I didn’t think he was dating anybody.”

Joey shook his head.  “He wasn’t.”

Chris turned his gaze over to his young friend, who was gradually calming down.  “Something happened this morning, I think.  I ran into him in the hall a few minutes ago and he looked like a zombie.”

The room went quiet as he finally got himself together, wiping the tear stains from his cheeks.  “I need to go home.”

JC’s eyes widened.  “Now?”

Justin took a deep breath and pulled himself up from the floor.  “Yes, now.  They’re expecting me.”

“Wait . . . who’s expecting you?”

He stared blankly at the wall.  “Her family.”

Lance shook his head in confusion.  “Who’s family?”

“Leesha’s.  Mine.  Our family.”

“J . . .”  Johnny sighed.  “Who exactly is Leesha?”

He sat down in one of the room chairs, his elbows on the arm rests and his head in his hands.  “Alicia Gordon.  Leesha.  She’s this kid . . .” 

“Hey, Justin!  Go long!”

He took off running as fast as he could toward the edge of the yard, turning to stretch out his hands for the football.

“J . . . Watch out!”

Too late, he turned to face forward, just barely getting a glimpse of the little girl in front of him before they both hit the dirt.

He groaned, rolling over and sitting up, wiping the dirt from his arms and legs.

And then he heard the whimper next to him.

He turned his head and his eyes widened when he got a good look at her.

Brown hair down to her waist, pulled back in a big blue bow.

New jeans, nicely pressed shirt . . . and big tears running down her face.

“Oh, man . . . are you okay?”  He moved so that he was crouched next to her.  “I’m sorry . . . I didn’t see you.”

She looked up at him, her brown eyes terrified.

He reached a hand out to her, offering help, and his eyes widened further when she shrank away from him.

“It’s okay . . . I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Come on, J!  Let her cry and let’s play!”

He turned his head to his friend.  “I think she’s hurt, Trace!”

The second boy ran up to them and smirked when he saw who she was.  “Nah, she’s just the foster kid from down the block.  Let’s go.”

“Wait a minute.”  He turned back to the little girl.  “What’s your name?”

She blinked at him, whispering something.

He leaned closer.  “What’d you say?”

“Leesha.”

Trace tapped him on the shoulder.  “Her name’s Alicia.  She’s weird.”

The tears stopped instantly and she glared up at him.  “Am not.”

“You are, too.”  Trace laughed.  “You’re a weird foster kid.”

Her chin stuck out stubbornly as she sized him up.  “Then you’re a big butthead.”

“She told you, man.”  He laughed, reaching out a hand as he stood.  “Come on, Leesha.  I’ll walk you home.”

She looked him over again, obviously trying to decide if she could trust him, before slowly taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. 

“What’s your name?”

“Justin.”  He grinned down at her.  “Nice to meet you, Leesha.  Sorry for running you over.”

“It’s okay.”  She shrugged as they walked.  “Shouldn’tve been standin’ there.”

He laughed.  “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

“I was ten when I met her.  She was only six, but she’d already been in ten different foster homes.”  He sighed.  “She was such a good kid . . . nobody ever really knew why she jumped around so much.  She was cute, funny, smart – anyone should’ve been happy to have her.”

He turned to look out the window, oblivious to his audience.  “She kind of adopted me.  I was the first one to be nice to her, so I became a big brother of sorts, I guess.  She was lonely.  And scared.  She needed someone to look out for her.”  He smiled, memories flooding his mind.  “She helped me figure out that I was supposed to sing . . .”

He did one final turn around his bedroom, jumping onto the bed as he finished the final chorus.

“Yes!  Thank you!  Thank you!”

He whirled around at the sound of applause coming from the window.

“What are you doing out there?”  He leaned out, making sure that she was safe on the tree branch outside his window.

“Watching you.”  She grinned, showing off her cheeky smile.  “You’re good, J.”

Even as his twelve-year old pride swelled, he blushed at her praise.  “Nah . . . I was just having fun.”

“No . . . you’re really good.  Like, you should be a star.”

“Come inside, okay?  You’re making me nervous sitting out there.”  He leaned further out, reaching out a hand to her.  “Come on.”

She looked down for just a second, her eyes widening when she realized how high up she was.  “No.”

He sighed.  “Come on.  I’m right here.”

She looked at him again, her eyes meeting his.

“I won’t let you fall, Leesha.” 

She swallowed, then tentatively started moving toward him.  The branch dipped downward with her weight and she froze.

“It’s okay.  Come on, girlie.”

She looked down at the ground again.  “Sing for me.”

“What?”

“I’m scared, J.  Sing for me.”

He began to sing softly, and she locked her eyes on his as she moved slowly to him.

Once she was within reach, he reached out and grasped both her hands, pulling her into the room.

“See?  That wasn’t so hard.”

“Thanks, J.”

“Just don’t climb any more trees, okay?  Or at least stay within dropping distance.”

“I’m eight.  I’m old enough to climb trees.”

He arched an eyebrow at her and she grinned.

“I’m just not old enough to get down from them.”

He laughed at the impish look on her face.  “Whatever you say, girlie.”

She turned those big eyes on him again.  “Will you sing for me again?”

“Not right now.  Why don’t you sing for me?”

She shook her head.  “I wish I could, but Ms. Laura says that I’m majorly tone deaf and can’t match pitches for crap.”

He laughed.  “Her exact words, huh?”

She gave him a mournful look.  “Yeah . . . her exact words.”

“Okay.”  He sighed.  “What do you want to hear?”

“Something nice.”  She screwed her face up, thinking.  “How about Amazing Grace?”

“All right.”  He sat back on the bed, relaxing against the headboard as he patted the mattress next to him.  “Come here.”

She climbed up next to him and mimicked his position exactly, grinning up at him as he rolled his eyes.

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound . . .”

“She was as tone deaf as a bat is blind, but she would sit and sing with me for hours.  She loved it, even though she knew she wasn’t especially good at it.”

He stopped to clear his throat.

“Anyway, shortly after that, she talked me into auditioning for the Club . . . and I guess the rest of that is history.  When I had a problem, I called her.  When I needed someone to just listen, I called her.  And she did the same with me.  She wasn’t a biological relative, but she was just as close a family member as Jon or Stephen.” 

He paused, swallowing hard.  “Two years ago, right after she turned sixteen, she started having some problems . . .”

He sat quietly in the waiting room, pulling his hat further down over his eyes when he noticed a few stares directed his way.

“You know, we could have waited at home for this.  Whatever they tell her won’t change between here and the house.”

His gaze shot over to Lynn, who was seated next to him.

“She’s sick, Mom.  I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

They sat in silence for several more minutes before the door opened and she walked out into the waiting room with Laura, her foster mother.

He stood, his eyes moving over her face before he opened his arms, letting her step into them.

“What is it, girlie?”

He could feel her trembling and couldn’t make out her whisper.

Leaning closer, he tried to hear her better.  “What?”

“It’s cancer, J.”  She blinked rapidly, trying to keep her tears from escaping.  “Leukemia.”

“Oh, God.”  His gaze flew up, clashing with Laura’s watery eyes.  “What . . . what happens now?”

“They’re going to have to run more tests to figure out the best course to take.”  Laura took a deep breath.  “Chemotherapy is the most likely treatment, but she might have other options.”

He looked down when she began to sob into his chest, his arms tightening around her as he started rocking back and forth.

“It’s going to be okay, Leesha.”

Brown eyes met blue.  “I’m scared, J.”

“I know you are.”  He smiled, running his fingers through her dark hair.  “But we’re going to get through this.”

She nodded against him and took a deep breath.  “Right.  We’ll get through it.”

“She started the chemo two weeks later.  It killed me to see what it did to her.  It made her weak, it made her sick and it took away from that spunk we all loved so much.”  He brought his hand up, raking his fingers through his hair.  “A month after her treatments started, she called me and told me that she’d had her hair cut off.”  He snapped his fingers.  “Just like that.  All that gorgeous hair.  Gone.  The doctors had told her that eventually it’d all come out, so she went ahead and took control of it.”

Chris nodded.  “That’s about the same time you started cutting yours.”

“Right.”  He never looked away from the window.  “I told her we’d get through it together and I meant it.  Even if I couldn’t be there with her, I had a promise to keep.”  He sighed.  “A few months later . . .”

“It was gone.”  JC finished for him.  “You shaved your head so that she wouldn’t go through it alone.”

“Yeah . . . it wasn’t possible for me to be there for her physically, but I know that it helped her to see that I was thinking of her, no matter where I was.”  He cleared his throat.  “After six months, they sent her home.  She was cured.  She’d gone into remission and the chances of a relapse were slim.  It took a while, but she finally came back to us.  She brought the old Leesha back.”

He went quiet, his breathing deep, eyes closed, paying no attention to the glances the group around him exchanged.

“What happened, J?”  Lance spoke softly.

“She called me three months ago . . .”

“Talk to me.”

“Hey, J.”

He grinned.  “Girlie!  What’s going on?”

“Not too much.  Nothing exciting happens when you’re gone.  You know that.”

“Awww . . . miss me?”

“Insanely.”

His eyes narrowed at her tone.  “What’s wrong, Leesha?”

“I . . . it’s back, J.”

“What?”  His brow furrowed as he sat down.  “What’s back?”

“It.”  She sighed over the line.  “The leukemia is back.”

“It’s back?  But I thought they said it couldn’t come back.”

“No . . . they said that the odds were slim that it would.”  She cleared her throat.  “Apparently, I’m a special case.”

“I’m so sorry, babe.”  He shook his head, even though she couldn’t see him.  “What are they going to do?”

“I start the chemo again next week and they’re talking about radiation therapy.  They have hope that I can beat it.”

“I know you can.”  His voice turned encouraging.  “You beat it the first time, girlie.  You can do it again.”

“If it’s God’s will, then I’ll be fine.  I know that.”  He could hear her smile.  “He got me through it before, J.  I’ve got enough faith to believe that He can do it again.”

There was a strained pause over the line, neither quite sure what to say.

She broke the silence.  “I heard a song the other day, J.  It really touched me.”

“Really? Sing it for me.”

“Well, it’s only the last two verses of it, but here goes.”

He could hear her clearing her throat again, then she began singing softly over the line.

When the first breath of winter through the flowers is icing
And you look to the north and a pale moon is rising
And it seems like all is dying and would leave the world to mourn
In the distance hear the laughter of the last unicorn 

I'm alive, I'm alive

When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning
And the future has passed without even a last desperate warning
Then look into the sky where through the clouds a path is torn
Look and see her, how she sparkles, it's the last unicorn

I'm alive, I'm alive

He ran a hand over his face, trying desperately not to cry.  “That was . . . that was beautiful, Leesha.”

"I always have loved unicorns.  And I finally got to hear a song about one.”

He swallowed back the lump in his throat.  “I love you, girlie.”

“I know you do, J.”  There it was again, her smile showing in her voice.  “And knowing that will get me through anything.”

“I did the best I could to keep her spirits up over the phone, but I could tell that she was slipping away from me again.”

He shook his head, leaning down to rest his cheek in his hand.

“She started getting distant again . . . and it started to drive me crazy.  We were at home for about a week last month and I was able to go see her.”

He pasted a smile on his face as he walked into the room, stuffed animal and balloons in hand.

Her head jerked up from her book in surprise when the door flew open.

“How’s my girlie?”

“Justin?”  She sat there, staring at him in disbelief before grinning broadly and reaching for him.  “Justin!”

He grinned back, letting the balloons fly to the ceiling before handing her the animal and leaning down to hug her carefully.

“What are you doing here?  I thought you were on tour.”

“We had a few days off, so I thought it’d be a good time to come and see you.”

He tried to pull away, but her arms tightened around his neck, holding him to her.

“You’re not getting away until I get a real hug, J.”  She pulled back to glare at him.  “I won’t break, I promise.”

He gave in, tightening his arms around her, smiling when he felt her grin against his neck.

“That’s better.”  She released him and lay back against the pillows, her eyes turning down to the animal in her lap.  “What’s this?”

“What do you think it is?”

She picked it up, turned it around in her hands and grinned before laughing.  “Oh, my word . . . you found a stuffed unicorn?”

“Yep.  I figured you’d appreciate it.”

She smiled at him, her fingers running over the soft fuzz on the animal’s head.  “Thank you, J.”

“No problem.”

He sat in the chair next to the bed, studying her for a moment.  “How are you, Leesha?”

She sighed.  “As good as I can be, I suppose.  Hanging in there.”

He reached out and took her hand.  “You just keep right on hanging in there.”

Her head began to drop, her eyelids heavy.  “I’m so tired, Justin.”

“Do you want me to go so that you can sleep?”

Her eyes opened wide, locking on his.  “No.  Stay.”

She looked as if she wanted to say more and he waited for it.

“Sing.”  She gave him a small smile.  “Just until I go to sleep.  Please.”

He pulled the chair closer to her bedside, so that he could lean forward, his mouth close to her ear.

“What do you want to hear?”

“Stand By Me.”

“All right.”

He watched as her eyes closed and his fingers came up to run through her hair as he sang softly.

Finally, her breathing was deep, even, and he moved up to kiss her cheek.

“Sleep well, Leesha.”

She turned her head so that she faced him and sighed, then she settled back down, lost in a deep sleep.

“Every time we spoke since then, she told me that she was fine.  She said that the treatments weren’t as bad this time around.  That she was even in a more comfortable room.”  He took a shaky breath.  “She was going to be able to keep her hair.  This new treatment was radiation therapy or something like that.  Not as high a dosage on the chemo.”

He stood, walked over to lean against the window, his eyes trained on the horizon.

“I even talked to her last night . . .”

“Hey, girlie.”

“J!”

“How are you?”

“Everything’s fine, J.  Just kind of hanging out.  Listening to your new CD again.”

“Aren’t you tired of it yet?”

“Nope.”   She laughed weakly.  “Besides, there’s not really too much else to do.”

“You sound weak, Leesha.”

“What can I say?  It comes with the territory.”

“Are they treating you right?”

“Of course.  I think Nurse Crandall is still scared to death that you’ll come after her if I complain again.”

“She’d better be scared.”  Even he could hear the smile in his voice.  “Just say the word and I’ll be there to take some people down.”

“My knight in shining armor.”  She sighed.  “You always have been, you know.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, girlie.”

“My singing knight . . .”  Her voice trailed off and for a moment, he thought she’d fallen asleep.

“J?”

“Yeah?”

“If . . . if anything happens . . . will you sing for me?”

He stiffened.  “Don’t talk like that, Leesha.”

“I need you to promise me, Justin.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, girlie?”

“I’m fine.  Just promise me, J.”  He could hear her take a deep breath.  “Promise me that you’ll sing for me.”

He swallowed hard.  “Okay.  I promise.”

“God’s with me, Justin.  He’s not going to let me down.”

“I know.”

He heard her sigh.  “I love you, J.”

“I love you too, Leesha.”

“I should have known something was up . . . she never tells me that she loves me.”

He stood silently for a moment and they watched as he swallowed visibly, his hand coming up to touch the glass.

“This morning . . .just a little while ago . . . Mom called . . .”

“Talk to me.”

“Justin?”

“Yeah.  Mom?”

“It’s me.  Justin . . . are you sitting down?”

“I’m lying down.  Does that count?”

“Don’t joke around, son.”

He sat up in the bed again.  “Mom, is everything okay?”

“It’s Leesha, honey.”

“Leesha?”

“Yes.”

“What, did she forget to tell me something last night?”

“No.  Son . . .”

He listened to the silence on the line and he took a deep breath, worry furrowing his brow.  

“Mom, is she okay?”

“She’s gone, Justin.”

The breath flew from his lungs, leaving him feeling as though he had just been punched in the stomach. 

“No.  I just talked to her last night.  She said she was fine.”

“She didn’t want to worry you.”

“But you told me . . . and Laura said . . .”

“Leesha didn’t want us to tell you what was going on.”  Her voice was wavering as she spoke.  “The doctors took her off the treatments two weeks ago, Justin.  They couldn’t do anything else for her.”

“No, she can’t be . . .”

“I’m so sorry, honey.”

He could hear the tears in her voice.

“Oh, God.”  He shook his head and ran his fingers through his tangled hair.  “She’s really gone?”

“Yes.  She’s gone.”

“When?”

“This morning.”  She cleared her throat.  “She just . . . she just didn’t wake up.”

“Mom . . . was she in pain?”

“No, honey.  They had her on a morphine drip.  She was peaceful.”

“I should have been there with her . . .”

“She didn’t want you to see her that way.  She wanted you to remember her in better times.”

There was a silence as he tried to get his voice to work, to speak around the tears lodged in his throat.

“You need to be here for the memorial, J.  She wanted you to sing for her.”

“I know.  I promised her that I would if . . .”  He turned, getting out from under the covers to move across the room.  “Is the service tonight?”

“It’s tomorrow.  Can you fly out today?”

“I’ll have to check with Johnny, but . . . I think so, yeah.”

There was silence and he could hear her crying quietly as he walked out the door and into the hallway, not caring that he was in pajama pants and nothing else.

“Mom . . .”

He tried to swallow, but couldn’t get past the tightness in his throat. 

“Come home, Justin.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.  I just need to let Johnny and the guys know.”

“Let us know when you’ll be here.”

“I will.”

“Leesha is . . . was like a sister to me.  She might not have been blood, but I loved her like she was my own.”  He took a deep breath and turned to face them.  “She died this morning in her sleep.  She went Home.  And now I have to go say goodbye.” 

----------------------------------------

It didn’t seem like it had been a day, but the time was flying by, moving too quickly for him to grasp it all.

That’s how he found himself sitting at the piano in the church, looking over all the people who’d come to bid her farewell.

“I don’t really know what to say about Leesha.  She was so many different things to me.  Confidante.  Enlightenment.  Friend.  Inspiration.  Critic.  Laughter.  Venting post.”  He breathed deeply, his eyes resting on the stuffed unicorn on top of the casket.  “She was all of those things, but above all, she was my sister.  Maybe not by blood, but we had the bond, nevertheless.”

He paused, his fingers running lightly over the keys. 

“She was always after me to sing for her . . . even when she was a little girl.  And I made a promise to sing for her today.  But she gave me so many gifts over the years, I didn’t want to just pull out something that we’ve all heard before.  So I made use of the time on the flight back home.”

“To my inspiration.”  He reached up, adjusting the sheet music in front of him.  “This one’s for you, Leesha.”     

Seems like it was only yesterday
She was living here
Yea, she was living here
Lord knows why He's taken her away
It isn't very clear, no it isn't very clear

Into every life a little rain must fall
And losing one you love is like a storm
But storms are passing

I hear Leesha
Singing in Heaven tonight
And in between the sadness
I hear Leesha
Telling me that she's alright

Life goes on even after life
That's what I believe
Yeah, that's what I believe
Leesha's gone, but she will still survive
In a memory that I'm keeping here with me

Silencing the voice of moral tragedy
Listening to whispers of the soul
All is peaceful

I hear Leesha
Singing in Heaven tonight
And in between the sadness
I hear Leesha
Telling me that she's alright

Into every life a little rain must fall
And losing one you love is like a storm
But storms are passing

I hear Leesha
Singing in Heaven tonight
And in between the sadness
I hear Leesha
Telling me that she's alright 

He bowed his head as he played the final chords. 

“I love you, girlie.  Rest in peace and I’ll see you on the other side.”

******************************

An hour later, the service was over and they were walking out into the rainy evening, the gray clouds threatening as they headed to their vehicles.

He shivered as a chill went down his spine, then felt something pulling him to look at the sky.

His head tilted back, his eyes moving over the clouds . . . then widening when the sun broke through, sending rays of light all over the parking lot.

A bird began singing from beside the church.

He stood there, staring, listening, for several minutes.

It began to sprinkle, tiny drops of water falling from the sky, making a glittering rainbow directly overhead.

Then he remembered, speaking aloud.

“Look into the sky where through the clouds a path is torn.  Look and see her, how she sparkles . . .”

He smiled and nodded, raising a hand toward the sky as the bird was joined by another in its song.

“Leesha.”  He felt one last tear trickle down his cheek.  “I hear you, girlie.  I hear you.”