Fragile #Wattys2015

Chapter 9

Of course, running took me straight to the roof. The roof had a boy on it, looking down at the city zooming by below him. The boy was Carter.

I turned around when I realized it was him, but it was too late. He turned around after hearing my footsteps. Damn these shoes!

"Indigo?" He hurried over to me. "Indigo, I really need to talk to you."

I tried to shrug him off, but he wasn't taking no for an answer. "What do you want?" I replied coldly.

"I'm so so so sorry. I don't know what got into me and I know it's no excuse but my grandma had me all stressed out and I thought a girl would change that but then you didn't and I'm just really sorry."

"Slow down..." I sighed and sat down. "Look, you were an asshole. However, your apology means a lot and I forgive you."

He hugged me tightly. "Thank you so much! It's like a weight has been lifted of my shoulders."

I rolled my eyes and started to get up and walk away.

"Hold on! Where are you going?"

"Back to my sister..."

"I thought we would talk for a while on the roof and plan our next date and maybe make out a little bit before we go back to our families..." He looked disappointed.

"Umm.. Carter that's sweet and all, but we're done. I'm not interested in dating right now, my life is too busy. Anyways, you're not the right boy for me. We should just be friends."

He sighed and put his head in his hands. "I always fuck everything up..."

"Look, this really isn't your fault. It would've happened regardless of you being a dickhead. If you want to hang out sometime as friends text me, okay?"

He nodded glumly, which I took as my opportunity to bolt. Without another word I was running through the halls again and soon I was back with Evelyn. Oh god, poor Evelyn.

She was white as a ghost with tons of machines hooked up to her, monitoring everything. She seemed to be asleep and her veins looked more purple and prominent than normal. She looked like she had lost five pounds overnight.

Benji looked incredibly sad. I tried to cheer him up a bit and hug him, but it was pointless. Eventually, Dr. Atkins came in to go over the situation with us.

"Hello Peterson children! Unfortunately, I have some and news. As you can see, Evelyn isn't doing well. She was up all night vomiting and she's lost weight. Evelyn's immune system is weak and she has a multitude of fairly serious viruses. She's also in a coma right now and we're not sure how long it will last. We have her on quite a few medications, but they aren't exactly doing their jobs. We don't really have any other options except for continuing current treatment or.." He coughed awkwardly. "..or pulling the plug. Evelyn may not live much longer, but what we do is up to you."

Benji began sobbing uncontrollably. His whole body was shaking and he was gasping for air. I sighed as a few tears rolled down my cheeks.

I took a deep breath and responded to the doctor. "We'd like to keep her alive for a while longer. She's a trooper, I know she can make it."

Dr. Atkins nodded and wrote some things down. "I'll leave you guys now." And with that he left.

Benji and I hugged for a while longer and he ended up falling asleep. Poor kid, this is way too much for him. Imagine how taxing it must be on Evelyn...

Hours later, Benji woke up to my phone ringing. I gave his arm a quick squeeze answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Indigo. It's Cass."

"Oh, hi. What's going on?"

"I have the final results, are you home?"

"Benji and I will be home in an hour."

"Okay, great! I'll see you in an hour." I could almost hear her fake, pudgy smile.

"Bye." I hung up the phone and tenderly kissed Evelyn goodbye.

Benji and I drove home and waited for Cass. When she arrived I was so nervous I thought I was going to combust.

"Okay, Benji and Evelyn. Are you ready?"

We nodded nervously.

Cass opened an envelope in a painstakingly slow manner and began to read us its contents. "Benji, Evelyn, and Indigo Peterson will be removed from their birth parent's homes and placed into new homes that can better care for them. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson will be responsible for paying child support. They will also be tried for various child neglect and child abuse charges."

Fuck.