Death in room 14

Chapter 18

--Rafael--

Damian's head rested on my lap, his dark hair curling just above his shoulder blades. I know hes going to chop it back soon but i didn't really want him to. It made his normally serious and worried face seem almost childlike.

Lost in thought, I hadn't realized I had braided his hair until i was almost done. My mom had taught me when i was about eleven years old because my dad had passed away and she never had time to braid my three younger sisters hair.

Damian started shifting in his sleep and i could hear his painful intakes of breath. I was extremely grateful for the blanket Jen had thrown over him because otherwise i would be forced to look at how painfully skinny he had become.

Groaning, Damian's eyes fluttered open to reveal his dark brown eyes. even though the room was dark I could tell his pupils were dilated and unfocused. Looking at the clock on the wall, i realized it was nearly four o' clock in the morning. Jess had called earlier and had decided to drive up as soon as she packed her stuff. She would probably arrive later today if she didn't stop to rest.

i didn't want to admit it, but i had started to develop feeling for Damian. I would never act on the because of our friend ship and how happy he and Jen are together. The only person i had ever confined in was Erwin and he had always listen and keep it between the two of us.

Closing my eyes, i fell asleep to the ticking of a clock and Damian's raspy breathing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Waking up to screams full of terror, I was shocked to find Damian curled up in a ball on the floor clutching his head. Kneeling next to him was Rico who was trying to get him to stop. Jen was standing off to the side, sobbing silently into her hands.

I kneeled down next to Rico and Damian and slowly lifted his hands off of his head as Rico sat him up right. His entire body was shaking and he was as cold as ice.

"Jen," I say, grabbing her attention."Can you go grab some of the blankets for him?"I actually had one behind me, I just didn't want her to have to watch him and feel bad for leaving without a reason.

Rico and i began trying to get Damian to tell us what happened when Jess busted threw the door. Rico shot to his feet in shock. She seemed out of breath, as if she had run the whole way here. Taking just one look at Damian, she rushed to the kitchen to cook something for him.

Looking back at Damian, i ask quietly," Hey, can you tell us anything that happened?" He looked up at me. His eyes were trimmed in red but everything about him was hollow. His cheeks and eyes had sunken in. Rico and I made eye contact just as Jess came back in with a bowl of soup in her hands. She gave a smile when Damian picked up the spoon and began to it but you could tell it was strained.

After a while, Damian began to mumble something. I asked him what he had said and he looked me dead in the eye and said

"Erwin is dead."

Rico dropped whatever he had been holding and Jess's hand flew to her mouth. i think Damian had been in denial until that moment because he seemed almost as shocked as us when the words slipped past his lips.

He slowly leaned against me with tears dripping down his face,

and fell asleep.

---Rico---

i was cooking breakfast as everyone else slept in. Jen came back in tears soon after Damian had fallen asleep. We told her about Erwin and she went quite for a second before bursting into tears again. Her and Erwin had never seen eye-to-eye and i had heard her tell Jess about how guilty she felt.

I knew Erwin had never felt anything negative toward her and i told her that but she just shock her head slowly and continued clutching Damian's hand.

As i was setting the last pancake on the plate i heard a knock at the door. With everything that had happened, you would think i would have known better than to open it.