A Silent Hope

Chapter Thirty Eight

Mackenzie

I wiped the never-ending tears that fell from my eyes.

As I'd done many times before, I sat with Paul. As I did many times before, I looked at my friend. The first person to make me feel welcomed in this town. The first person to make me laugh since a heartbreak. Someone I'd started to consider as a younger brother.

Only this time, he wasn't talking non-stop like he often did. He wasn't nudging my shoulder like he did after a bad joke. My friend wasn't drunk dancing in the bar after one of our shifts. He wasn't pretending to fish with his cooler of beers.

I squeezed his cold hand in mine, his pale skin even paler now. I breathed out, looking at his half burnt face. My blurry eyes lowered to his chest as I waited for the rise and fall. There was none. I blinked rapidly, feeling more tears fall down my face. And with another deep breath, I slipped my hand out of his.

I placed the white sheet over his face again, slowly backing away from him. My feet were heavy, as weighted as my heart was. But I forced myself out of the room and walked out of the hospital.

I knew I should call his granddad to let him know, but I couldn't. How was I to let the man know that his grandson, the boy he raised, was now gone. He wasn't supposed to outlive him. He wasn't meant to be the one to bury his grandchild.

Looking down at my hands, I willed them to stop shaking, but they kept on doing so. My breaths came out in ragged pants, and I tugged harshly at my clothing. I suddenly felt stifled, and everything was closing in on me.

My head hurt, the painful screams of my dead friend too loud. I clenched my jaw to not yell out the pain I endured within. My eyes shut as I closed my fists, letting my nails dig into the skin of my palms. I tried to let the new pain overtake the other. It wasn't enough.

My knees stumbled, but before I could fall, I felt a gentle touch on my back. Turning, I came face to face with a flustered Thalia. In a split second, her arms were around my neck. I burst out in tears as I bent and laid my head on her shoulders.

My sobs were muffled as I took comfort from being in the arms of the woman I loved. Thalia's hold on me tightened, and the gesture worsened my condition. She may have been smaller, but right then, she was the only thing keeping me from completely falling apart. The only thing holding my body upwards and my being rooted.

~●~

I stood at a small distance away from his burial spot. Mr Lahey was still at the grave, his eyes never having left his grandson since the church. He didn't cry or blame anyone for his grandchild's death. After the news was delivered, the man only asked how it happened.

Paul was rescuing a young girl from the burning building. Seconds before they made it out, a beam fell from the ceiling. Paul had managed to push the girl aside but failed to move out of the way. By the time I had gotten to him after hearing his screams, my friend was already gone. Parts of his face burnt off, and his body almost completely crushed.

I watched as Mr Lahey's frail body began to tremble. I leaned off the tree I stood next to and sped up to the man. I caught him just before he fell and used my strength to hold us both up. He cried silently, whispering out his grandchild's name as he did.

I stayed there with him for over two hours. I drove him home afterward, occasionally glancing up in the rear view mirror whenever I felt Thalia's eyes on me from the backseat. That night, we stayed over to ensure Mr Lahey would be okay. At least physically.