The next morning, Carter was still sleeping when Charlie carefully climbed out of the bed, and snuck out of the room, trying not to wake her. He quietly shuts the door, finding Katherine sitting outside the room.
"Good morning, sweetie." she gets up to hug him.
"I'm sorry for staying-" he says but she stops him.
"No, I'm glad you did. I'm happy you were with her last night. I'd been trying to get ahold of her father all night, but he won't even respond to my texts." she says
"He doesn't deserve you guys. I'm sorry he's being like this." he says
"It's okay, I just wish he would pretend to care." she says
Charlie's phone buzzed, it was the others saying they were in the cafeteria getting coffee.
"I'm going to get coffee with the others. We'll be up in a few, do you want anything?" he asks her
"No, thank you, baby. Take your time, we'll be here." she says
***
Charlie goes down to the cafeteria to meet with Erick, Samantha, Liam, and Maria.
"Hey guys." he says as he approaches the table where they are all sitting.
"Hey, how's it going?" Erick asks
"She's good, she's still sleeping. Her mom's with her now." Charlie says
"Did you stay here all night? Or why are you still wearing your suit?" Liam asks
"I stayed with her. We talked, and she helped me, a lot." Charlie says, looking at Maria.
Maria stands up to hug him, "All good?" she asks him
"All good." he says and kisses her.
"Let's get up there. I wanna ask Carter who was the better dancer." Liam says excitedly.
"Dude, I already told you, she's gonna pick me." Erick says
"Yeah, right." Liam says mockingly
They all laugh getting into the elevator and go up to the 4th floor. Once the elevator doors open, they step out to see doctors and nurses all rushing in the same direction.
"Code Blue, Room 231. Code Blue, Room 231." the intercom repeats
"231... Isn't that?" Samantha asks
"Shit!" Charlie yells
They bolt to Carter's room. Katherine was being escorted out by the nurse as she's hysterically crying.
"What happened?!" Charlie shouts
"I don't know. One minute she's talking to me, and the next, the monitors start beeping and she's not breathing!" Katherine makes out.
Charlie tries to run into the room when a nurse stops him. "Sir, you can't come in here." she says to him, blocking his path.
"Carter!" Charlie shouts over the nurse.
The others stand by her room window, watching as the doctors try to bring Carter back. Using the crash cart, doing compressions. Hearing the doctor yell "Clear!"
Samantha clings to Katherine, trying to calm her down.
Erick and Liam do their best to calm Charlie down, attempting to hold him back before he forces his way into Carters' room. Maria covers her sobs with her hand as she stares into the room.
Nothing was working. And that's when they hear it. The sound no one ever wants to hear at a hospital. The flat line.
"She's been down for ten minutes doc." a Doctor says to another.
The Doctor who was still doing compressions didn't want to stop, he refused to listen to the others, "No, there has to be something else!" he yells to them.
"Mike, stop! Mike!" the head Doctor yells.
Dr. Mike slowly stops doing compressions, looking defeated. "I'm sorry..." he whispers to Carter.
"I'm calling it. Time of death, 8:42 am." the head doctor calls out.
He didn't say it too loud, but it was loud enough for Charlie and the others to hear.
"No! No! Carter!" Charlie yells, he manages to free himself from his friends and pushes his way through the medical staff to get to Carter.
"NO! Not my baby! Not my Carter!" Katherine lets out a bone-chilling cry, as she almost falls to the ground, Samantha and Maria doing their best to help but they feel just as broken.
The doctor walks up to Katherine, "I'm sorry, her heart was just too weak. We'll give you guys some time." he places a hand on her shoulder before walking away, the rest of his team following him.
Katherine lets go of the girls' and rushes to her daughters' side. Charlie lays over Carter's lifeless body, his face buried into her chest, and the sound of his screams is muffled.
Liam holds Maria and Erick holds Samantha as they cry for the loss of their best friend.
"This can't be happening... she seemed fine yesterday." Samantha says
"My baby... I'm here, baby I'm sorry. Carter please, please, no..." Katherine cries, not knowing what to do as she reaches for Carter.
"Carter... please don't leave me... please, I can't do this. I can't live in a world where you aren't here. Please Carter!" Charlie cries as Katherine joins him.
The blue rose from the night before had fallen to the floor.
***
Time seemed to slow down and the world felt like it had stopped turning.
The doctors would try to talk to Katherine, but she couldn't move. She just stared at Carter with blank eyes.
Erick and Liam tried to get Charlie to get up, but he lay still too. Charlie could only hear mumbles from them, he had blocked out the world.
Maria had called her parents and had asked them to call everyone else's parents and to have them come down to the hospital.
Once all the parents arrived, the kids informed them of what had happened. They tried to explain everything without falling apart, but it was impossible. The parents held onto their heartbroken children, trying their best to soothe them, knowing there was nothing that could make this better.
Charlie's parents walk into Carter's room to get Charlie.
"Charlie, sweetie. Let's get you home." his mom says, laying a hand on his shoulder.
But he doesn't move.
"Son, I know it hurts. Let's go home and get some rest." his dad says, slowly pulling Charlie up off Carter.
His mom starts to cry, hugging Katherine before they take Charlie home. Passing the others in the hallway.
The world was dead to Charlie. Nothing mattered right now, because the world just took his best friend.
YOU ARE READING
We Go On
General FictionAlmost everybody in the world has gone through some pretty tough times in their life. People have different ways of coping; whether it be seeking professional help, turning to friends and family, or they simply go on, living their lives under a cons...
