"There's a word I found recently. Evanescence. It made me think of you. It made me think of us. Were we just a dream, Sebastian?"
TW : Key themes of suicide and trauma.
WARNING: This is Book Two. Please read "affluenza" first to avoid any spoilers...
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I DON'T LEAVE the hospital for another five days.
Getting to shrug into my own clothes felt like a taste of heaven after wearing those scrubs all week during my suicide watch. I'd been on my new medication the entire time as well as seeing a therapist twice a day. It wasn't fun. At all. But, I was grateful for the help. Or at least, I was trying to be.
I'm pulling up my pants—much more difficult with gauze wrapped around your hands—when the door clicks open. Lionel walks in with a frenzied expression; I'd come to realize that was sort of his default expression. "You're still here," he breathes, a smile on his face. "That's great."
I raise an eyebrow. "Is it?"
"Well," Lionel mumbles. He hands me a CD. Evanescence, Fallen. I stare down at it before looking back up at him. "I wanted to let you have that. Since you asked about them the other day. Track 2 is a favorite of mine."
I flip the CD around, reading the names. Bring Me to Life. A small smile spreads on my face. "Thank you, Lionel."
He nods once, a flush pink. "Uh...I'm really glad you're doing better."
Then he disappears, all at once.
I tuck the CD into my bag, smiling still when the door clicks open again. Dr. Harris walks in with a kind expression as she hands me the bottles of my medication. "You remember the schedule you take these with?" she asks, looking at me intently.
"Yes," I murmur exasperatedly, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. We'd only gone over it, like, 100 times. I wasn't going to forget. But I smile at her all the same. "Thank you, Dr. Harris. You've been great. Really."
She smiles. "Just doing my job, young man," she responds casually. "You've been through a lot, Braylen. I hope you can find your peace soon."
I purse my lips. "Yeah. Me, too," I remark. I take one last glance around the room, looking for anything I may be leaving behind, and come up empty. I was ready to go. Dr. Harris begins to lead me out of the sterile room and into an equally sterile hallway. I turn to her. "Oh, hey, can you thank Lionel for me? And tell him goodbye? He left so suddenly, I just—"
"Lionel?" she repeats, eyes turned down. "Who is that?"
I scoff. "Um, your assistant?" I think back to the boy with kind eyes and a frenzied expression. And I realize it didn't matter who he was. Crazier things had happened. "You know what? Never mind."
Harris smiles once before bringing her hand to the small of my back and pushing me towards the door. "Little surprise out there for you. Take care, Braylen."
I nod back at her. "You, too." I smile once more at her and then turn towards the door, pushing it open.
Hiro's the first to rush into my arms. My arms tighten around his torso as he tucks his head into my shoulder. I can feel my eyes welling up over the brother who just a year ago was a complete stranger to me. It felt impossible that I couldn't have known him for that long and yet love him so much. "I missed you," he whispers, voice cracking slightly. "I was so worried."
