Through the wall

XVIII

It was finally Friday. The end of an era: Sing would officially be out of Gun's life... and Off too. That was the only thought running through Gun's mind as he brushed his teeth. He had woken up to a message from Lia confirming that everything was sorted: the agreement had been signed and registered. The doors to his new life were now wide open without her realising.

All that was left was figuring out how to break the news of his decision to move to Jennie. Breaking down and crying his heart out the day before hadn't helped much. Perhaps it would be best to wait until the following week, when the event wouldn't be so fresh in their minds.

He still felt sad; it was only the first day, and he already missed the Jumpols—both of them. He couldn't quite pinpoint when they had become such an integral part of his life, but he truly missed them. The feeling unsettled him, so he decided to do what he did best in situations like this: avoid and suppress his emotions until he was ready to deal with them.

After drying his face with a towel, he glanced at himself in the mirror before heading downstairs for breakfast.

The day went by with an air of normality. He settled for seeing Sammy during break time and continued to ignore the storm of emotions swirling inside him. He and Camila had avoided bringing up anything remotely related to love or romance, which came as a relief.

When work finished, Camila invited him out for ice cream to celebrate the end of the ordeal caused by Sing's complaint. She dropped Gun off at his house, saying she'd freshen up at home and then come back to pick him up for the outing.

Gun was ready and waiting, sitting in his living room, when he received a text from Camila:

Message from Cami to Gun:
"I'm almost there."

He got up, grabbed his bag, and stepped outside to wait on the pavement. The heat pressed down as he watched Cami's car approaching when a loud thud, followed by a scream and crying, shattered the quiet. It was Sammy.

Before his mind could catch up with what his body was doing, Gun had bolted through the neighbour's gate without knocking and rushed inside.

The scene before him almost stopped his heart: Off was kneeling on the ground with Sammy in his arms. The little girl was crying, her face covered in blood.

Off stood up and was heading towards his truck when Camila, who had seen Gun running from her car, shouted from behind:

—"I've got my car running outside, Phi! Let's go!"

She spun around and dashed back to her vehicle, bringing it up to the entrance. Off climbed into the back seat with Sammy in his arms; the child kept crying as he softly repeated over and over that everything would be alright.

Gun, sitting silently in the passenger seat, felt paralysed. He couldn't say a word, a lump lodged in his throat. "Sammy's crying, so she's okay," he kept repeating in his head, the phrase looping endlessly, keeping panic at bay. "Why am I so scared?"

Camila, noticing his distress, reached over and placed her hand on Gun's. She glanced at him briefly before asking, more to calm him than to herself:

"What happened, Phi? How's Sammy?"

"She's fine. She fell off the swing. I told her I was coming to push her, but she got ahead of herself and fell headfirst before I could do anything. From what I saw, she's got a small cut on her scalp—that's why there's so much blood. But she's okay..." Off spoke softly, looking at his daughter as he wiped her tears with his shirt. "Right, sweetheart? It was just a scare. The doctor will take a look at you, and you'll see—it's nothing."