The Supernova Effect

Chapter 35

Nova

I shouldn't have left, I think I knew that before I even opened the door.

I knew when I clocked out I knew when Darius called after me but I didn't look back. I knew when the car ride felt too long, every stoplight turned red, everything felt to calm compared to what I was about to walk into.

"Daisuke?"

No answer.

The bedroom: empty. Sheets tangled, cold.

The bathroom door was cracked, the light pouring out too bright. The silence behind it heavier than any scream.

"Dai—"

My voice snapped in half when I pushed the door open.

He was there, back slumped against the tub, head tilted like he'd just fallen asleep sitting up. The pill bottle on the floor. The vodka half-spilled across the tile, bleeding into the grout. His mouth slack.

"No— no, no, no, no—"

I hit my knees so hard my vision sparked white. My hands flew to his face — ice cold but not gone, not yet. His eyelids were blinking it and out of conciseness.

"hey, stay with me, come on— come on, come back—"

His lips spread out into a weak smile and his eyes close fully.

My shaking fingers found his wrist, pressed so hard I thought I'd bruise him — counting heartbeats like a promise. One. Two. Skip. One.

I grabbed my phone, nearly dropped it, dialed with the side of my thumb. 911. Speaker on. My voice cracked so bad I barely recognized it.

"I need an ambulance now, my boyfriend overdosed."

My free hand kept brushing his cheek, tapping his face like maybe I could knock his soul back into him.

"You hear me, Daisuke? You're not leaving me, you bastard— you don't get to do that—"

My tears hit his collarbone, mixing with the cold sweat already soaking through his shirt.

"Please— please— stay. I told you I'd come back. I told you—"

The operator's voice buzzed in my ear.
"Stay calm, Help is on the way."
I clutched him tighter, pressing my forehead to his.

I don't know how long I stayed like that — curled over him on the bathroom floor, whispering prayers I didn't believe in anymore.

The operator's voice kept repeating help is on the way, but all I could hear was the rattling in his chest and my own heartbeat crashing against my ribs like it wanted to break free.

His eyelids fluttered once — a twitch — and I grabbed his face so hard I almost bruised him.
"Daisuke. Hey. Hey— stay with me. Please— please, my sweet boy, come back to me."

A cough shuddered out of him. Barely there. His lips parted, but nothing real came out — just a weak gasp that made my vision spin.

Then footsteps thundered in the hallway — the front door banged open — voices barked orders that didn't sound real.

I couldn't move. Didn't want to. A man in navy scrubs knelt beside me and touched my shoulder like I was something breakable.
"Miss — we need you to back up—"

"No! No, I can't— he needs me— he needs me—"

A paramedic squeezed in, lifted his eyelids with a penlight. Another knelt by his chest, unwrapping wires and a plastic mask