like real people do./ arvin russell

1.5

harry and i went home early that day, i called lenora and she picked us up, harry was way too sick to handle and arvin and i had a fight like no other, i just had to leave.

"you enlisted..?"

"look i know it's gonna be tough but i need to do this.."

lenora didn't exchange a word to arvin when we left, just a glare. i carried harry out to the car and grabbed all our stuff as arvin just stood there, watching like he was some sort of ghost.

"arvin you had four months to enlist and go and be who you wanted to be and you stayed and i thought you stayed because of me!"

"natalia i'm doing this for you!"

the car ride was silent, harry coughing up a storm in the back with our dog laying by his side, my mind was racing with every possible outcome of this little situation.

"if you actually thought about me you would have told me you wanted to enlist not tell me after you did it! what about harry huh? what are you gonna tell harry when you randomly don't come home for months at a time!"

"harry will understand he's old enough too!"

"harry and i have lost everyone we don't need to lose you too!"

my stomach churned, replaying the fight over and over again in my head. we had already been driving for two hours but it seemed like a lifetime, the car getting quieter and quieter with every inch.

"so you're just going to leave?! what if i said no to coming out here again? would you have even told me anything or would you have just pulled a classic arvin and run away?!"

"hey don't pull that shit with me natalia!"

harry fell back asleep when we made it into coal creek, the small town still buzzing with alcoholics and shitbags. i told lenora to just drive us home, id drive harry too the hospital when i got everything inside the house to see if he actually needed to go, knowing i didn't have enough to pay for no hospital bills, and even though she wanted to say no, she couldn't.

"listen doll...i did this for us! for our future! i didn't tell you because it was supposed to be a surprise! i thought you'd be happy for me!"

"what kind of asshole surprises his girlfriend by joining the military!"

when everything was inside and harry was laid down, i went to go grab some medicine for him. when i got back to his room and tried to wake him up though, he wouldn't.

"harry wake up bud..."

nothing.

"harry cmon now wake up!"

still nothing, he was still breathing, but his breaths slowed with every second that passed, I couldn't lose him too. so, i picked him up and rushed him out of the house to my truck, i sped, as fast as i could to that damn hospital. it wasn't busy, never was, so i ran in, screaming like no tomorrow, doctors and nurses ran up to me, taking harry and placing him on one of those tables they placed momma in and my heart stopped, they held me back as i tried to get through the crowd of doctors that surrounded him as he left the entrance to the hospital.

i sat and waited for what seemed like forever, i didn't have no one to call besides the russells, so, i called and when lenora picked up i sobbed to her over the phone for over an hour, she said she had work, but she'd send someone to come comfort me while i waited. it's been an hour since that phone call, almost three hours since harry went back, and no one showed.

giving up hope was something i had seemed to be doing a lot recently, my mind had completely let lose on all the bad things that could happen to anyone i cared about because of my actions or how i treated them, by the time that the five hour mark hit, i asked a frent desk lady if they had anything, but they said they hadn't heard anything since the last time i had asked them.

"doll..."

arvin. he looked like a wreck. his usual curly hair was pressed down, the hat that usually sat on his head was gone. his eyes were red and puffy, filling with tears to match the ones that already stained his cheeks. he looked like a wreck. but he was my wreck, every inch of that man that i had hated so much earlier today, he was all mine, and in a moment like this i needed arvin russell. so, i didn't say a word, instead i just hopped out of my chair and jumped into his arms, sobbing like no tomorrow.

"im so sorry natalia.."

he only ever called me natalia in serious situations, ones like earlier today, he never liked using people's full names unless he had to or they told him too.

"they can't take him too.."

all he did was hold me on that floor, my tears soaked his shirt and my hands gripped onto him until they felt like they were going to explode, he didn't say nothing, just sat and held onto me, holding on tighter everytime he heard me say harrys name.

about an hour later, when darkness took over coal creek completely, a doctor walked out, clip board in his hand, arvin and i stood up immediately, impatient as hell and ready for some answers.

"are you both mrs and mr brinkway?"

we shook our heads and explained that i was harry's sister and arvin was my boyfriend who was helping me take care of him. he was the same doctor who tried to help my dad, the same one who called me that cold december day to say my final goodbyes to my father. this wasn't looking good.

"you guys might want to sit down for this one.."

no this wasn't good. arvins grip on my hand got tighter as we sat, the doctor sniffled and cleared his throat before continuing.

"i know this is going to be hard for you natalia, i watched your mom die and then your dad go and i didn't want you to lose anyone else...but, after trying every test and trying to keep his heartbeat going again and again and again...he couldn't take it anymore, unfortunately harry passed in his sleep, the cause of death was a virus called the flu...i'm sorry natalia..."

the doctor walked away before i could see him crying, but i knew he was, he cried when my mom died and cried again when we had to say goodbye to my dad and here we are, saying goodbye to the only family i had left.

i felt so numb, like i would never be able to move from the seat i was in. it was like time had stopped, arvin sobbed next too me, pulling me in close to him, thats when i realized i had been sobbing the entire time the doctor was talking, and i continued to sob, letting every part of me collapse into a puddle of pain.

"the same kind of asshole that proposes to his girlfriend at his childhood home that he wants to buy with her and her brother! the same kind of asshole who quits his job to have a better life for you! the same kind of asshole who stays up with harry whenever he has nightmares so you can sleep! and the same kind of asshole that saved you from that shit diner job so you could have a real life again! that asshole..!"

...
A/N:

no...I'm not crying...my tears are just sweating like no tomorrow.

and yes, before anyone asks, i did kill off harry for a reason and the reason will be soon but for now enjoy the rest of these sappy and sad chapters.

psa there will be a mega time jump in the chapter after the next one so be prepared!