Bodies

trente-quarte

Milan stayed in the room where they pronounced her brother dead for hours.

Her clothing was stiff with his blood. 

None of the nurses or doctors in the hospital had the heart to remove her from his room. Hell, they didn't even have the heart to move him.

Devon had been laying in a hospital bed, cleaned up and everything. All for her sake. 

The ride from the hotel was nothing short of heartbreaking. Milan spent its entirety gasping for help and pleading the EMT's to save him. One of them always continuing compressions just to provide Milan some comfort, like something could be done.

Milan knew there was nothing else to be done. She knew she felt the last breath come from his body long before the paramedics were there.

But she couldn't stop screaming.

Watching the healthcare team clean him up and for his body to be returned to her without the blood and gore on him, Devon almost looked like he was sleeping. 

Oh, how she was wished he was just sleeping. 

Now that the river she had cried had dried up to a slow intermittent sniffle instead, Milan felt nothing inside.  A pit of swirling black at the most. 

The streets had now taken her brother from her.

She knew how blinded Devon was by the gang world. She knew that's what he clung to, to stay sane. However, it drove him to almost kill her—three times.

 If it wasn't for Malcolm, Milan would've been the one glued to the hospital bed and not her brother. 

Devon paid the price of his life's work with his life.

And Milan could bet, a whole slew of boys would be paying the price for Malcolm's work tonight when word hits the street. 

The rustling of a plastic bag made Milan look up from her hands as she sat in a loveseat in Devon's room. She saw that it was a nurse holding a tightly wound up bag of clothes and it lowly vibrating. The nurse approached Milan and held out the bag for her to take.

"We were going to wait until you were leaving to give you this bag of his belongings, however his phone keeps ringing." The woman explained, offering Milan a small smile. Milan didn't have it in her to return, but she thanked the woman for bringing it to her.

Once they handed the bag off, the nurse left as quickly as she came. 

Slowly letting the bag unravel itself, Milan saw the culprit of the vibrating. Grabbing Devon's cellphone, the incoming call ended right as she turned the screen towards herself. Milan saw that he'd missed 5 calls from a mysterious "C". 

Of course, Milan did not know Devon's phone password  off the top of her head and she knew she only had a certain number of chances before the phone began to time lock itself. She started with the basics, Devon's birthday. 

Then his daughter's.

Milan had given it two more random tries when she realized she only had a couple left before the phone began to lock up.

So, she tried their mother's birthday.

Milan's heart dropped when the phone vibrated in protest again. 

The only set of numbers she'd figure he'd have close to his heart was her own birthday. Milan's hands were slightly trembling as she typed the numbers in. 

And to her surprise the phone unlocked.

The bitter laugh that escaped Milan's lips was cold as she looked over at her brother's body. She resisted the urge to knock the whole bed over.