Red Spider Lilies - SparklingHerb

5 - Tears, petals, blood, himself. Falling.

hi just wanted to let everyone reading that Herb has thoughts abt dying in this chapter (if ur not comfortable with it then please don't read it!!♥︎♥︎♥︎) the rest of this story might also have mentions of it I'll try to mention whenever there it

'I need to stop coughing them up...' He held his mouth shut to stop the petals from coming out but when he did that it just hurt more and more. Tears streamed down his face 'Why won't these negative thoughts go away?' He sobbed softly. He could barely make ends meet, people were only interested in flowers during Valentine's Day. He wasn't extroverted either so not many cookies really knew him, people usually called him a 'plant freak', a 'tree hugger' He went inside his room and fell at the doorway, "I want to die, so badly...somebody kill me. Why do these things happen to me? I wish I weren't me. I wish I was an interesting person...!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, which was a bad idea. He coughed even more vigorously than the last. Petals and Flower buds spewed out of him mouth. Herb cookie felt like he'd lost all his vocal cords. He couldn't handle this, he didn't even get to close his shop. What if someone came in here and saw him like this?

A bell jingled, Herb's eyes shot open in terror. He couldn't move or talk. "Hello? Anybody there?" A voice called out, Herb tried to reply but he started to cough again. Footsteps came closer and closer to Herb, he was afraid, he didn't want to get humiliated. He wished he could become invisible, non-existent even. "....you aren't okay, are you?" Cherry blossom, a former work colleague said from behind the laid down cookie. "Can you...reply?" She asked. Herb couldn't even move, how could he reply? Cherry blossom picked him up and put him in his bed, she stared at the puddle of blood that stained Herb's shirt. Herb started crying, he felt paralysed, he felt like he was trapped. He felt like he was facing death itself, "I..c..an..t..an..y...mo..re" he sobbed. Before he knew it, he fainted again.

Cherry was sitting on a chair beside the bed and started looking up why her friend coughed up petals, flower buds and blood. She froze, "This is what..you're going through?" She turned to look at the bedridden boy. He had blood coming out of his mouth and wouldn't stop crying despite him being asleep. "You're...going to be okay, right? You and me, we were coworkers at the café. You remember, right?"

Herb woke up, his throat felt sore. "C...her...ry." He said, his voice was raspy from the retching. Cherry hugged him tightly, "Ah...I hope you're okay! It must hurt.." "H..ow do..you k..now my..suffe..ring?" He asked "Looked it up. Also, it's obvious you're in pain, Herb." She said. "I won't pry, but call me if you need help..." Cherry got up and left. "H..elp?" Herb thought outloud, 'What use would help be.'