Dragged to my knees

Chapter 16

~Alex~

Alex tossed and turned on his king sized bed. He felt like he was being asphyxiated by the swarm of pillows that kept him company. And his mind, it was attacked by a myriad of wandering thoughts.

Most consequential though, where the thoughts about his best friend. He couldn't say he knew how Ricky was feeling because quite frankly, he had never been in such a tumultuous situation but he knew when he was sad.

The circles under his eyes grew darker, the sound of his voice got husky and his smile, it just disappeared.

When he did smile though, it was even more gut wrenching. He smiled softly but this time it was different. His face would smile but his eyes didn't.

Alex knew his friend must be breaking under all that pressure and it was killing him that he was unable to help.

He had seen it in his eyes all day at school. Ricky wanted to hold it together but he could see that he was slowly losing the battle.

To make matters worse, Alex kept having these nightmares about Veronica. He wanted to tell his best friend, but didn't know how. He really hoped the plans they had made for the mid-terms would allow them time to talk about everything.

Alex knew it would be too hard a blow if anything happened to that woman. Ricky held her in such high esteem and she was overly dear to him.

Resolving to help in the only way he knew, he got down on bended knees beside his bed and said a lengthy prayer for the Davis family. He'd just truly discovered this way newly and hoped it would actually work.

Alex's parents had been Christians since his birth but only recently had be begun to understand what it took to be part of the church he rarely attended.

At first, he was excited to share the news with his best friend, but that was the day he had come with the sad news of Veronica's accident. Alex had thought he could help then, but only seemed to make things worse.

Ricky had looked at him with such disgust that he had decided it wasn't worth the hassle of losing his best friend to pick an interest in such things. So he had decided to drop the issue. Everything seemed to be going fine for him anyway. Why stress? He was a good enough kid.

When he was done praying, Alex got up off the floor and lay on his bed. He wanted to talk to Ricky and see how he was doing but of all the texts he'd left him, not one had been replied to all day.

A feeling of perturbation overwhelmed him and he wondered how insomniacs dealt with this on a daily basis. He began to count sheep but already knew the plan was bound to fail.

After a few minutes, Alex arose and walked quietly to the kitchen downstairs for a late night snack; anything to settle his unease.

He found some leftover cake and cut himself a slice. The chocolate felt heavenly to his taste buds and he could feel his tense muscles relax. Not wasting any more time, he polished off the rest of his snack and began his journey upstairs.

On his way though, he paused at Emily's room as he noticed her lights where still on. Alex walked in to find her TV still on at a reduced volume and his darling little sister, asleep on a couch. He looked at her little heart shaped face and a feeling of endearment washed over him. Since the first day, he'd looked into those beautiful almond shaped eyes, he had loved her.

Careful not to ruin her beauty sleep, he tucked her in nicely and turned off both the lights and TV; making sure to keep a glass of water on her bedside table, just the way she liked.

As he made his way to his room, Alex wondered why he hadn't noticed her lights on the first time he had made his way downstairs but concluded that maybe he had been too distracted to see.

When he got to his room, he fell lazily onto his bed and finally felt exhausted enough to sleep. Food and Emily seem to be the perfect blend for therapy; he chuckled to himself as he fell into a much deserved slumber.