Missing Heart

Chapter 29: Kelly

No. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

NICK WAKE UP! WAKE UP PLEASE! I shook him violently after he stopped coughing. He was completely limp. I kept shaking him.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" I kept yelling at him, but it was worthless, he's dead. He's dead, Kelly. He's gone and he's not waking up.

I stopped for a moment to truly process his death. And then I broke down crying on top of him. Tears flew down my cheeks, and who cares about the cool metaphor, my brother is fucking dead and I watched him die!

"Hey, are you guys alright? There's a lot of yelling... Oh...". Shelly walked in, and realised that Nick was gone. I didn't see her face, my eyes were closed crying, but I could tell that her previously cheerful face was grim.

Martin was rubbing my back the same way he did with Shelly. Julie was right, he is sweet.

Eventually, I ran out of tears and I just couldn't cry anymore. Believe me, I was still trying, but there wasn't a single drop of water left in me to cry out. I lifted my head finally, and we all just sat down. We sat in silence while I calmed down. They were patient with me and didn't care that I cried like a 5 year old... Maybe... I don't need to act more mature than I am...

"Hi guys, is everything Ok?" Julie exited the room she was in.

"... Nick had an asthma attack but his inhaler was out... he's dead..." I told her. It was probably a lot to take in at once, but I didn't know how else to explain it.

"I-I... *heavy breathing*".

Julie started hyperventilating, and ran back into the room she was looking in, slamming the door behind her. I heard her yell a loud and painful scream. Like, she was finally getting rid of everything that had been adding up...

"J-Julie...!". I stood up to run after her, but Martin grabbed my shoulder.

"Don't, stay here. I think she might be having a mental breakdown, and she probably needs some time alone to calm down. Knowing her, she'd probably be throwing things around, so it's unsafe..." He looked at me and smiled. "I'll talk to her when she's done. I'll make sure she's alright, Ok? I promise. She needs some time, that's all".

It shamed me to say it, but he probably knew her better than me. I could totally imagine him being right.