Swan Song

Thirteen

How could you do it?
Oh, I, I never saw it coming
Oh, I, I need an ending
So why can't you stay just long enough to explain?
———

Blood.

So much blood.

I took the ambulance to the hospital and everything seemed to move in slow motion. All I could hear were my brothers cries before he began to crash on the ride.

Upon our arrival, Owen was taken to surgery and I stayed in the waiting room. Slowly everyone else began to arrive- my mom and then my dad. Oliver and Jake. Then Bradley and Natasha.

Everyone found me in the same position, with my head in my hands and tears streaming down my face.

"Sweetheart, you should change," my mom soothed me, though I knew she was her own wreck.

"I'm not leaving," I replied, barely audible. 

Jake knelt down in front of me and held my hands in his.

"Come on," he said softly. "Let's at least get you cleaned up."

Jake led me from the waiting room to the bathroom where he helped me scrub my brothers blood from my hands and anywhere else on my face and arms that it had gotten.

"I can't lose my brother, Jake," I finally spoke.

"He's the one that stopped the shooter," Jake replied and I broke down into sobs.

Of course he was. That's just who Owen was as a person and as much as I admired his heroism, I kind of hated him for it in that moment.

"Let me go to your house and get you some clean clothes," Jake offered as he stared at my blood stained dress. "You don't need to be wearing that, not now."

"It's okay. I'd rather you stayed here."

Exhausted, I leaned against the counter and finally looked in the mirror, seeing my dress that had now turned shades of crimson. Without any hesitation, I started to sob once more.

"I need to be back with my family," I said, sucking in a deep breath and wiping my tears.

Jake and I walked back to the waiting room and the only sound was that of the news that played on the old box tv that hung in the corner of the room.

The hours seemed to drag on and eventually the surgeon that had been with Owen came in, his expression almost solemn as he approached our family.

"Oh god. He isn't..." I managed to spit out.

I could see the desperation on my moms face and my already broken heart seemed to shatter that much more.

"He's okay," the doctor finally replied with a sigh. "He had a pretty severe laceration to both his left lung and spleen. We removed the spleen and got him all patched up. He should recover nicely."

Both of my parents moved to hug him but I fell to my knees, crying out of happiness.

"They said you were the first one to help him," I heard as the doctor knelt beside me. "You saved his life."

I watched the doctor stand to his full height and I nodded.

"You did good, kid."

"What do you need?" Bradley questioned, kneeling beside me.

"Please leave me alone, Bradley," I pled.

Of all times and places, he should've known better than to show up.

"I'll, uh, I'll get everything taken care of for her," Jake said as he offered his hand to pull me back up.

"I'm going to stay here," I said softly and Jake nodded.

"I'm going to get you a change of clothes. Give me your keys," he replied, holding his hand out.

I opened my clutch and grabbed my keys, placing them in his hand before moving to Oliver, who had silently been crying. If there was anyone in our family that was closer to Owen than I was, it was Oliver. They were one another's first best friend and had lived so much of their lives together that I hadn't taken into consideration how broken he had to have been.

"He always was the bravest one of the three of us," I said, falling into a hug with my brother. "Stupid but brave."

"You kept him alive," Oliver chuckled through his tears. "Since when did you know what to do?"

"I've watched too much Grey's Anatomy," I teased with a laugh.

"You can come see him now," a nurse kindly interrupted, guiding us to his room.

Jake, Bradley, and Natasha left while my parents, Oli, and I all went to Owen's room. My parents sat at his side but part of me was too afraid to get too close— that him surviving had been too good to be true. Luckily it wasn't.

Once Owen began to wake up, he stirred and groaned from the pain, which broke me all over again. Mister Owen "I never feel pain and am a rock" Kazansky was the most vulnerable I had ever seen him and it hurt.

"'Dette," he groaned, holding his hand out in my direction.

My brows pulled together as I moved to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Go home. You look like shit."

Ah, there was the Owen I knew.

"You're one to talk," I spat out, the corners of my mouth turning up into a smile. "Besides, Jake is bringing me something else to wear."

"Sorry for ruining your big night," he teased, forcing a smile.

"What a dramatic way for you to tell me you didn't want me to see him again," I teased back. "Thank you, O. You saved a lot of people tonight."

"And scared a lot of us too," Oliver chimed in. "Don't ever do any shit like that again."

"What can we do for you, honey?" My mom asked Owen and he shook his head.

"Go home. Get some sleep," Owen was quick to reply.

"I'm staying here tonight," I reminded my family. "I'll keep everyone updated."

Mom kissed Owen's head and Oli gave him a nod as dad gently patted his arm. Everyone knew better than to fight Owen to stay when I knew he just wanted some peace and quiet.

Owen and I sat in silence for a few minutes before I loudly sighed.

"What is it?" He questioned.

"Nothing."

"Odette, come on. I know you better than that."

"Why did you do it?" I asked, my brows pulled together as I watched his vitals.

"Are ya kidding me? You, Oli, and dad were all there. It was a no brainer."

"I thought you were gonna die on me," I admitted before blowing a loose strand of hair from my face.

"Luckily for you, I'm a little more resilient than that."

He was right. I was definitely lucky because I don't think I could've lived with the trauma of watching my oldest brother die.

"Did you at least have a good time?" He questioned.

"I did actually," I admitted as a light tap on the doorway made me look. "That was fast."

"Probably because I drove fast," Jake replied as he walked in with a pile of clothes.

I took the clothes and kissed Jake on the cheek before excusing myself into the bathroom to change from my blood soaked down into the sweatpants and t-shirt that he had brought me from home.

As I emerged from the bathroom, I watched the two talk for a moment and noticed that Owen seemed lightyears more uncomfortable than he had been just minutes earlier with his vitals now elevated.

"Ow?" I questioned. "You good?"

Before he could answer, he coughed and blood began to spill from his mouth as his vitals shot up.

The room was quickly flooded with medical staff and Jake and I were pushed out of the way and into the hallway. I fought to get back into the room but Jake held me from behind, holding tight so I could let Owen's medical team work.

There was so much blood.