My Sister's Husband

03 - A broken piece

People drink when their happy, lonely, celebrating, mourning, or if they just want to forget. But sometimes despite the effort, being drunk wouldn't ease your pain or numb your wounds, sometimes it gives you delusions, memories, and worst hope. .hope of an alternate reality, a reality you would kill to happen.

"Jeremy. .jeremy??"

Jeremy opened his eyes or tried to, all he could see is a blurred picture of a woman, she look utterly familiar but he was too foxed to even remember or care. He heard a grunt, unsure if it was him or someone else. He could not feel his body or his limbs so he just stayed there lying on the floor with all the liqours he had vomitted.

Jacinta is so irritated to see his brother this way, if she had it her way she would loved to kick him to reality. If only it would work, after all, she did tried, several times at that and all she got were grunts and nothing more. He was drunk most of the times, and the only time that he was sober or sober enough is when he is painting but everytime he would he was too focused that he would forget sleep and food. He would locked himself when he got an inspiration and paint himself away. It's the only thing he communicates or even used to show he is still alive, if he is still alive because she's starting to doubt his brothers sanity and life. He's beyond help that even his parents doesn't even know what to do anymore.

She knew his brother is barely living, if you call his pathetic situation a life, then maybe bugs got it more better.

"This is madness. .maybe I should just have put poison in your food and let you die you bastard, since thats what you've been praying for anyway. .." she muttered helplessly while trying to clean his brother's puke. "I seriously swear the day you became sober is the day I'm gonna roast you because of this torture.." she kept muttering to herself, her eyes stinging in every word she said, because if her words come true, if he become sober, really sober, then she, every puke she cleaned would all be worth it in the end, if only.

She sighed deeply and tried to dispel the suffocating feeling she had. She wonder if meeting Cassandra again was his brother's luck or misfortune.

"Mm.  .hhmmm. ." He was mumbling again, saying words she can't even understand.

He was dreaming, she was heartily laughing with a joke he was saying, the  the scene changes to when he was giving her a piggy back, she was already sick then but her vibrance didn't diminish with her sickness, she was a warior, despite the prickly pain she feel at times , she would still wear a smile in her face. The  comes the nightmare, she was so sick and was intubated, she was in the hospital bed, so weak, and her life seems to drain every second. He could feel the fear and anxiety every time the clock ticks, as if its counting her days. He was so petrified and even in his dreams, he could feel the same fear and agony. The helplessness of them all, the thought of waiting for death to happen despite trying their best to fight it and yet, he, his pathetic self could do nothing but look at her wife, fading away day by day, minute by minute with her sickness.

"Agggg. .waaaaahhhh!!!" In his state, Jeremy was trashing, banging his fist and body in the cold floor, he then clawed and clutch his heart, wanting to ripped it open, wanting for the pain to stop. Wanting for the nightmare to end. "Please, please . .please ..... " He was crying like a baby, his cries a desperate flee wanting a redemption and his sister Jacinta could only look at him gripped with pain, she clamped her mouth and mufled a cry, she cannot bear his brother like this, there were moments when being intoxicated gives him respite and happy dreams but there were times when he was plagued with nightmares, and everytime this happen she wished she had the power to bring back the dead, because looking at his brother pleading and crying broke too many hearts that even her mother cannot watch his brother like this or else she too would collapse and have a heart attack, after all no mother would want their child to suffer, much less suffer like this.

Jacinta tried to hug his brother not minding the mess nor the smell or the state his in, all she want is to give him some comfort.

"Cass. .please. ." Jeremy whimpers, he was crying silently know and looks so fragile, so broken.

"Jem please, please. ..for Cassandra's sake. .live on. .move on. .you know she would not want you to wallow in despair. .you know she would not want you to be like this. .please. .please...mom and dad is still alive. .you need to fight and keep on living! Jem please..." She pleaded but she knew it all fall on dead ears, Jeremy chose to stay away because he does not want to burden his family with his grief, nor does he want to show them his pathetic self thats why he move to his cottage near the beach for solitude but they were too worried to let him be alone, afraid he would dive head first in the water and never comeback thats why they usually took turns in checking on him.

Jeremey is so badly broken that Jacinta could almost never see and end to his grief.

......................

A/N: seriously Im tempted to put some tagalog words. They feel more raw, problem is Im not sure if I can do the translation properly. 🤣