Strangers in the Storm ✔

Chapter 26: A Flesh Wound

DAMIEN

Dana Douglas died during a humid July night after five years of battling cancer and two weeks of watching every movie she hasn't yet seen. Actually, she wasn't conscious for the last five days, but Damien watched the movies for her.

The doctors said the bleeding on the brain killed her; an aneurysm. They swore she didn't feel anything. They swore she was too far gone to feel anything. In the morning, they washed her body and kept her in the mortuary while Damien arranged the funeral.

He had called every funeral director in town while he went through the list of requirements his mother wrote.

"She is thorough." Damien put the papers on the coffee table in his mother's living room while Mona contacted everyone who needed to know. "Scarily thorough."

Damien's best friend lifted her gaze from the phone, "You need to eat something."

"I'm not hungry." Damien shook his head. "She wants the service after the funeral to be held here. We should call Maya."

"Done." Mona said. "She'll clean the place once we leave for the funeral, but she can't handle the food."

"I'll call Sergio, he'll take care of the food." Damien put a check mark next to 'food.' "She wants French cuisine, which is going to be a pain in the ass."

"She's going to torture us, isn't she?" Mona grabbed the papers and looked through the list of requirements. "I think she can't have this many songs."

Damien shrugged, "They'll play as many songs as she wants. I'll pay them."

Mona leaned against her knees, her blue eyes knowingly scanning Damien's face, but he wouldn't acknowledge her worry, not now. Now, they needed to get through this.

"Have you been to the hospital?" Mona asked.

"No." Damien stole the papers from her. "Did you call about the flowers?"

"Damien." Mona said. "You should go see her."

"I have stuff to do here." Damien looked through the requirements, mentally trying to figure out when he would deal with all of it. "Call about the flowers, please. She wants a bunch of flowers. Goddammit, it's like she's getting married."

"That's Dana." Mona smiled. "You need to eat something."

"I'm not hungry. Let's continue."

Mona sighed, frustration lacing her voice, "It's 6PM, you haven't eaten anything all day."

"I had coffee."

"Seriously?" Mona stood up. "I'm gonna order food."

"Have we decided on the funeral director?" Damien looked up. "I don't care how much it costs."

"Yes." Mona pulled out a laptop from her bag, "The funeral is tomorrow, 11AM, as soon as possible."

Damien put a check mark next to 'funeral director,' "Have you told everyone about the funeral?"

"Yes." Mona looked at something on her laptop. "Do you want Italian?"

"Mona." Damien gritted his teeth. "Does everyone know when is the funeral?"

His best friend looked up from the screen, "Yes. Everyone knows."

"Have they confirmed they'd come?" Damien asked. "I need to know how many people are going to come here after."

"Okay." Mona went through her phone. "I've contacted everyone who's invited to the service after the funeral, it should be around fifty or sixty people. She had a lot of friends."