ECHOES OF FORBIDDEN LOVE | (ongoing and undergoing editing)

✤Chapter Nine✤

❁Kayla❁

⚠ Warning: Sensitive and emotional chapter ahead.

Greif, death and mental health issues.

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The world around me seemed to slow down, the hospital sounds fading into a distant hum as my brother's words echoed in my mind. Mom is no longer with us. The weight of those words settled into my chest like a heavy stone, pressing down until I felt like I couldn't breathe.

I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't. I had come all this way to be by her side, to hold her hand and tell her how much I loved her. How could she be gone before I even had the chance? My legs felt weak, and I reached out to steady myself against the counter, the cold surface grounding me in this cruel reality.

"No... no, that can't be right," I whispered, my voice trembling as I looked up at Henry, hoping, praying, that he'd take it back, that this was some kind of awful mistake. But the sorrow in his eyes told me the truth before he even spoke again.

"Kayla," Henry began, his voice breaking as he stepped closer, trying to reach out for me, but I instinctively took a step back, shaking my head in disbelief. Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring the edges of his form as I struggled to keep myself from falling apart.

"No," I repeated, my voice barely audible. "No, I... I was supposed to be here. I was supposed to... say goodbye." My words trailed off into a choked sob, and I felt the tears spill over, hot and relentless, as the overwhelming grief consumed me.

I felt bile rise into my throat as I struggled to breathe. I felt so lost. Everything around me became so loud, and I couldn't focus as a violent panic attack tore away my sanity. I was confused, scared, and overwhelmed. I collapsed onto the floor, struggling to catch my breath. Suddenly, it was so hard to master the simple task of inhaling and exhaling the air my lungs so desperately needed.

I could hear my brother beside me, whispering comforting words as he tried to help me regain my composure.

"Kayla, breathe," he said, holding my head in his hands and forcing me to look up at him.

I could feel the hot tears spilling down my face, dripping down my neck. My vision became blurrier as I tried to focus on Henry's voice, trying to force at least a minimal amount of air into my lungs. But for some reason, I couldn't. The harder I tried to breathe, the more impossible it became.

"Kayla, please stay with me," I heard my brother's fading voice say before the darkness completely swallowed me.

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My hearing returned first, and I was met with a continuous, deafening sound. I could vaguely make out people talking around me, but I couldn't see anything.

The darkness that surrounded me was almost palpable. I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt so heavy. I tried to move my right hand to touch my face, but for some reason, it was the hardest thing I had ever tried to do. My limbs were so heavy that it felt impossible to move even a single toe.

I tried. I waited a little before attempting anything else, focusing on my hearing. I could clearly hear my siblings talking, and it sounded like they were arguing with each other.

"This is all your fault," I heard my sister Kate say.

"How is it my fault? He's the one who said we shouldn't tell her!" replied the voice I imagined was my younger brother, Brandon.

"Yet. I said we shouldn't tell her yet. When Kate talked to her first, she almost had a panic attack. Imagine what would've happened if she found out just a couple of hours later that Mom had died," Henry said in turn.