The Beautiful Ones

Chapter 6: The beginning, the end, and my brother

Forgive the TFIOS cliche :p
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*Three and a half months later*

It was getting worse.
Nicky was admitted into palliative care one month ago and it's been agony ever since. And it's getting worse.
Of course mum and dad were almost always with him because he was their one and only and after they lose him to them they would have lost their only child. I don't know why my parents stopped loving me; when I was eight they were sweet to me but then again they would neglect me a lot but still I knew they harboured some sort of love for me. I think Nicky's relapse did something to them, but then that's just an excuse I use to make myself feel better because in truth they had stopped caring much for me before he relapsed.
I sat looking out of the window in Nicky's room while he slept.
I looked over to see his pale face marred with a frown. Even in his sleep he suffered.
He was in so much pain that for the past few days he'd been under heavy sedation to elevate some of the pain.
He would wake up from time to time and try to eat only to throw it all up later. So the doctor just settled on giving him nutrients via IV fluids and some light juices if he could keep them down.
His doctor had been in to check on him that morning and when I asked him how he was he said,"I'm sorry but there is no nice or sweet way to put this but you should prepare yourselves for what is to come; his health is deteriorating at an alarmingly fast rate and I don't expect him to make it through this week. I'm sorry." His words sounded sincere but his face was like stone.
But his diagnosis hit me straight in the gut; I knew he was fading away but I at least expected more time.

I was so immersed in my thoughts I didn't register that someone had come into the room until I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped.
When I turned around I was shocked to see Micah standing there. He had gone back to school three months ago.
I knew he kept in contact with Nick and talked to him as much as he could until Nicky had become too ill to indulge in hour long phone calls or even have enough strength to pick up his cell phone. That's how bad his condition was.
I stared at Micah not really sure what to say, I haven't heard or seen him in three months and he was the last person I expected to see here.
He looked tired and he had dark circles under his eyes.
He gave me a half smile, "hey angel."
"Hi." How I missed him calling me angel and how I missed him!
I was surprised when he stepped forward and put me in a bone crushing hug. I hugged him until I couldn't breath and I had to push him back a bit to get air into my lungs.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
He frowned as if not expecting me to ask that question. "I came to see Nick and I came to be here for you."
His tone had this duh vibe to it, like it should have been obvious why he was here.
I smiled at him and I'm sure it looked just as forced as it felt and moved away from him to sit down next to Nicky.
Micah came over and sat on the other side and started talking to Nick as if he were awake, but I couldn't judge him because I'd been doing the same thing for days all the while thinking maybe he could hear me or maybe he could sense my presence and he'd be more at ease.
And so it went on for the next day, me and Micah talking to Nicky, and mum and dad visiting him in the morning before work and during their lunch hour and again after they finished their shifts at work. The only thing we'd all agreed on is taking turns to sleep with Nicky at the hospital and tonight was my turn as it had been mums last night. Micah and I hadn't spoken much to each other but when he asked if he could spend the night as well I welcomed the company. Nick had woken up for a couple of minutes at around 8pm, just enough to say hi to Micah and smile and me and tell me he loved me.
The rest of the night was seemingly quiet and peaceful.
Until the clock struck 1 am that's when all hell broke loose and my world came crashing down around me.
His heart stopped and he crashed.
Micah had me in his arms clutching at me tightly as I screamed at Nick not to leave me, I cried and screamed and begged for him to stay with me. The doctors tried to revive him over and over again but it was no use. He was gone.
My body felt like dead weight as I sank to the floor brining Micah down with me, he was clutching me so tight I was sure I'd wear bruises but I didn't care.
My brother was gone. The man who was both mother and father to me for most of my life, who was my guardian angel and mentor, he was gone and he left me all alone.
I turned slowly to look at Micah. And he looked back at me with tears running down his face. I turned in his arms and hugged him with all I had and cried as he cried with me. We both morned the loss of a brother and a friend. We both lost someone we loved dearly.
I held on to his neck for dear life. Afraid of what was to come.