Are You Afraid of Musicals?

Chapter 7.2: Pain

Gina's pov:

Once we get to the police station, no one gives us answers.

The lady behind the desk insists that she can't tell us anything if we're not family, the officers that we try to approach pass by us, dismissing us, telling us that someone will update us shortly, but no one does.

After trying for almost half an hour EJ suggest to go to the waiting room, to sit down for a moment and calm down, noticing that I'm starting to get really frustrated. But I can't sit down right now.

Not while I don't know where Gabby is, not when I don't know if she's ok, not when I promised her mom that I wouldn't leave her alone.

So I keep looking around, trying to find an officer that seems approachable, maybe that cop that nodded at me back when everything went to shit is here, but as I scan the lobby with my eyes, I realize that some cops are stopping in front of a tv.

I turn to EJ, seeing that he followed my gaze and realized the same thing I did, so I nod at him and we both start walking towards the now bigger group in front of the tv.

As we get closer I can already see videos playing behind the newscaster, quickly recognizing our high school's building, but my stomach drops when the video changes, showing the moment Gabby stepped out holding Dani.

I take the last steps faster, wanting to hear the news, hoping that they can give some information about how Dani is, freezing in place when I hear it.

-... died in the way to the hospital.-

I only catch the last few words, but the moment I do the world ends for me and I find myself paralyzed, all the air of my lungs knocked out of me as if someone had just kicked me right directly into my stomach.

For a second I can't move, or breathe, or think. Everything turns blurry as the tears start gathering in my eyes, as every sound around me gets muffled, making the shattering of my heart thunder into my ears.

Because Dani is... Dani's gone.

My best friend. My sister. Part of my heart.

Gone.

No, it can't be. It can't be real, I can't live in a world where those words are real...

Memories start flooding my head without permission, I barely feel EJ's arm wrap around my waist trying to ground me, I barely feel anything, because for a moment I'm not here.

I'm in my dance class meeting a 4 year old Dani for the first time, a bright smile on her face and a mischievous sparkle in her eyes as she tells a joke about the teacher's mustache that makes the whole class giggle.

She was light. Bright, reckless, so unapologetically herself...

And I watched that light dim, year after year, not really understanding what was happening to her, not like I do now, but no matter what, she always found a way to show up for me.

Every single time.

I'm suddenly transported three years ago, when my mom started going super hard on me, when dancing became more of a torture than something fun... she stayed with me. My mom kept pushing, making subtle comments about how I wasn't good enough, about how I had to work harder if I wanted to achieve something, and Dani would wait outside the studio for me.

She wasn't even in class anymore, she hadn't been for a while and God only knows what her own parents were doing to her, what she was going through, and still... she was there.

She was always there.

Smoothies in hand, ready to tell me that I was killing it, that I was the best dancer she had ever seen, to then take my hand and crack some jokes as we made our way to the park, or to the movies, or to our friends... anywhere that she knew that would make me happy and forget about the stress for a moment.