LARSSEN'S LANE: Grey

Chapter 1.3 - Last Spring in Crimson Creek

The tragedy was not over yet. Three days after the funeral, Chester got a phone call. While he listened carefully, his face turned stretched and his breath became hard. Not waiting until the call hung up, Chester threw his phone and it hit the door. His chest rushed up and down.

The sound of an object hitting a door was caught by Ralph and brought the blonde man to see what happened in the bedroom. When he opened the room door, he saw his nephew stared to nowhere behind his back.

"What's wrong?!" Ralph caught a bad expression on his nephew.

After getting his breath back to normal, Chester spoke. "Dad was shot by an unknown man when he was with a boy visiting a grave."

"Your mom's grave?"

"I don't know. She didn't tell me." He paused while swallowing his saliva. "Now I'm afraid that Elle and Jackie won't be okay." Chester started to shed tears. "My parents ... why did this happen? Why me?"

Ralph sighed then walked to Chester. "You got to be strong. I know you can." He embraced Chester. He wouldn't let out his grief, even if he wanted to. However, Christopher is his brother, and the young man in his hug is, like, the younger version. His posture, his hair color, even the way he talks and walks are all-so Christopher.

Chester could no longer hold back his grief, after trying to look tough for these couple days. The broken-hearted young man's body was shaking on Ralph's shoulder.

Three days later, Chester got a call from a public service number again. For a moment he stared at the phone screen—Ralph's cellphone, since his own phone is broken after hitting the door. He hesitated and was afraid. Considering the consecutive bad news he got within the last eleven days, it's reasonable for him to be afraid.

"Hello ...." Chester's voice was raspy. "Yes, it's me." He confirmed his name after the caller asked.

"We'd like to inform you about your family members, named 'Michelle Therine Henry' and 'Jacqueline Marion Andrews'. Police officers found two twin girls this morning that are alleged as them. And we need you to confirm. They're now under intensive care at Dallas Central Hospital," said the woman from the other side briefly.

"How are they? Are they okay."

"We're sorry that we cannot tell you about further details of the patients, it's out of our authority. For more complete information, you can talk to the responsible doctors."

Chester was silent.

"Any more questions, Sir?"

"No, thank you." Chester didn't listen any longer to whatever the caller said until she hung up. He rubbed his hair while sighing.

Later on, Chester, accompanied by Ralph, went to the hospital where Michelle and Jacqueline got medical care. He directly went to two different rooms, one by one. He wasn't sure which one is Michelle, and which is Jacqueline, since the two girls are perfectly identic.

Right now, the elder adoptive brother of Michelle was standing in front a door with glass window. Gazing at a little girl who was laying on a bed inside an ICU room. Various life support and vital organ monitor devices were attached to the girl. Bruises and scratches remained on her face. And her head was bandaged. The room was not far from another similar room where another twin was also laying in. And at the moment, a couple of doctors and nurses rushed and passed by behind Chester and inevitably got Chester's attention.

Chester ran following the doctors and nurses, wishing that what he was afraid of, is not happening. But unfortunately, it was really happening. They ran into the other ICU room where the twin was. Chester stopped in front of the room's door.

Behind the door, the paramedics worked hard to get back the little patient's vital sign. They kept pumping the defibrillator on the girl's chest. But after a hard try, the line on the screen still didn't change. The girl just lost her heart beating.

The leading doctor came out of the room while putting of his mask. "We're sorry." He said.

Chester looked up and his eyes were watering. His lips were shivering with no words spoken. He then exhaled roughly.

It was a hurtful scene to Ralph who was just got to the corridor where the doctor and Chester were facing each other. He just lost his elder brother a few days ago, and now he saw his only nephew was desperately down. But he couldn't, or shouldn't, show his feelings. His breath wasn't even lighter than Chester's.

Two hardest weeks to Chester, Zoey, and Ralph. Losing beloved people is not easy, as everybody knows it. This was even more than one people, say it was almost the entire family. Today the three mourning persons were standing in front of two caskets. The dead bodies of Marc and Jacqueline were in the caskets, ready to be buried.

Priest was speaking preach to respect the passed away. Mourners were listening carefully. Some of the mourners showed condolences, some other were palm faced. While the ceremony was going on, drizzle started dripping. But those people stood still like nothing was bothering.

When the ceremony was finished, everybody's gone, except the passed people's family. They look down speechless to the wet graves. Until Chester finally spoke.

"You're going back to your friend's house?" Chester stared at Zoey who was standing in front of him. He knew his question wasn't necessary, he just wanted to say something.

"Yes." Zoey still looked down while answering. "I have to go. I can't be here, no longer." Her voice was trembling. She then walked away.

Chester's sight followed where the now-orphan girl walked to, until she ended up entering a car where a woman that Chester saw at his mother and Zoey's parents funeral were right now standing while holding an umbrella.

"Hope she'll have a loving new family." Ralph tried to reassure his nephew. "Let's go home and rest. We have Elle to take care of."

The uncle and his nephew then left the graves too. They walked with heavy footsteps through wet grass of the path amongst graves toward Chester's car.