Heaven & Earth: The Somewhere Under Heaven Series

Shattered

Casey's POV

The next morning feels so surreal. I wake up to find the house weirdly quiet. I wake up and see Katie curled up next to Rob with her head on his shoulder. "Thank God he told me to buy the California King size," I joke to myself.

I know that this is going to hurt but I also know that right now Katie needs us. 

I head downstairs and I see Jaxon. "Mama, do you think Ashton was murdered because...he was gay?" he asks me as we're talking. 

"I don't know, baby," I tell him.

One day I'm at the gym and I see a report from Fox News about Ashton's murder and it just reminds me of the pain we're dealing with. 

We have new details today in the shooting that killed the teenage son of actor Robert Pattinson. 19-year-old Ashton Pattinson was killed in the parking lot of a New Jersey shopping mall. The Daily Mail just reported that the gunman in the case, Stephen Malone discovered that the university student was gay and that did not sit well with him. Reports are that Malone told friends and family that he could not sit by knowing that his little girl's heart was broken just because of her ex-boyfriend coming out. 

Pattinson family attorney Shane Kelly has told reporters that they have no comment on the situation as of now saying, "While I can say that Ashton did come out to his family who promised to continue to love him, there is nothing more we can say about the situation. Rob and Casey have told me that they would rather focus on trying to pick up the pieces and make peace with what happened for the sake of their family." 

This weekend both Robert and Casey Pattinson were spotted in Princeton walking out of two separate church services. On Saturday, they were with family at a Mass at the family's longtime parish in Princeton and on Sunday, they attended a service held by a family friend who is a Progressive Baptist minister. They were asked by reporters about the hate crime reports to which Casey Pattinson simply responded, "I don't know since the investigation is ongoing. All I can say is if it is true, it's sad because no one should be killed over who they love or don't."

Tristan saw the repot and quickly changed the TV to ESPN. "Sorry about that, Doc," he says to me.

"It's okay, Tristan. I was expecting it."

Katie's POV

I can't live in this world! It's bad enough that I lost my brother but now to realize that it was a possible hate crime?! That's very insane. And on top of that Uncle Shane just found out that Dion is probably not his kid, his wife forged everything about their marriage, and he was just diagnosed with cancer! I just can't take this...I can't. 

The final straw was Ashton's death. I'm still mad that someone could think my brother caused that accident. I still wish Stephen and Tiffany Malone knew the truth about their precious Cassidy. She was so entitled and hung out with the kids she could party with while her parents didn't know better. Times like these make me so glad I have the parents I do but this is really hurting me.

I'm out with Jaxon one night when I tell him I'm starting to crack. I find myself near the bridge and I keep thinking I should just end it all.

Casey's POV

I get a call from Jaxon.

"Katie's cracking," he says.

"What?"

"She says her life isn't worth living."

"Where is she?"

"Headed towards the New Hope–Lambertville Bridge."