Why Not Live?

Chapter Nine - Broken

Charly's POV

Charly felt her heart break as she watched Nathan holding Clara. The poor woman was sobbing and screaming in his arms. She wouldn't speak, probably couldn't if she tried.

Ethan was frozen in Charly's own arms as he watched as well. He didn't cry like most children would do when they saw their parents cry, especially if their parents were crying the way Clara was. He just stood in Charly's arms, not even struggling, watching his mother with a concerned expression that appeared odd on such a young face.

One of the men standing in the door way cleared his throat and hesitantly stepped into the house. He was wearing what Charly recognized as U.S. Marine dress blues. His pants were blue, with a red stripe running down the outside of each pant leg. His coat was navy blue, with a white belt and golden buttons from his neck to the belt. He wore a white hat with a shiny black bill that had lots of gold on it.

"I'm Gunnery Sergeant Andrews. I very much regret that I have bad news regarding Sergeant John Sherwood. It was reported at precisely 1023, 10:23 a.m. civilian time, that Sergeant Sherwood was killed-"

Clara screamed again in Nathan's arms. He held onto her tighter and began rocking her back and forth, whispering soothing things into her ear.

Gunnery Sergeant Andrews looked down at her sympathetically before continuing, "during a search and rescue mission. He died honorably and many were saved due to his sacrifice." He bowed his head and took a step back, allowing the other man to step in front of him.

This man was dressed a lot like the first, with a few differences. One was the small golden cross on his lapel. He introduced himself as the chaplain and spoke of how sorry he was about John. He talked about how he was in God's hands now and about making arrangements.

Charly didn't focus on it too much. She was finding it difficult to pry her eyes away from Clara. The poor girl was inconsolable. She was still sobbing in Nathan's arms, her hands constantly rubbing her belly or covering her face.

She looked as if her whole world had just ended. In a way, Charly supposed it had. She had lost her husband, her other half.

Charly's eyes travelled up to Nathan. He was talking to the chaplain while obviously trying to consol Clara. She wondered how he would take it when she died. They hadn't been together that long, but she already cared for him, and shouldn't couldn't help but think that he cared for her too.

Her whole purpose of coming into his life had been to help him. But would she really be helping him if she let him get so attached and then left him? Sure, he wouldn't react as bad as Clara, but if he got too attached it could be bad.

It gave her a lot to think about.

After talking for another few minutes, the chaplain handed Nathan a slip of paper resembling a business card and said to call if they needed anything. He said that he would be in touch about arrangements that had to be made. Then, with one final apology, he made his way out of the door, closing it behind him.

None of them moved for a while, they all just stayed where they were. The only sound was Clara's sobbing, but even that was beginning to quiet down just a little.

Nathan's eyes met Charly's and she felt the urge to cry when she saw the look in them. He looked broken. Not only for his own loss, but for his sister.

Charly bit her lip, trying to keep the tears out of her own eyes. There was something about watching someone else in so much pain that made it impossible not to cry for them. It was hard not to curl up on the floor beside Clara and cry for her.