Night Skylines

Chapter 6

The Doctor assured me that Lexi would indeed be fine. He told me that if I had waited a second later to call 911 she might not be here with us today. As it stands right now, she's in a coma, but the Doctor explained that that is not to last very long. 2 to 3 days at the most. I watched her in the ICU, motionless. Lifeless. It occurred to me that I had skipped school today and i hadnt seen my mom in a 36 hours and she was most likely very concerned about my whereabouts. I had bigger and better concerns though. I kept Lexi's phone when the paramedics came. I had a plan. When I left the hospital, which was hard for me to do. I unlocked her phone and started to type a message. "Mom where are you? I need to see you." is what it read. I pressed the send button and waited for Sandra to respond. She surprisingly responded instantly, with an address. That was actually quite easier than I thought it would be. Other than the phone, one of the other things I took from Lexi's room was the gun. I had to make things right. I had come to the conclusion that I loved Alexia Maria Nightengale. I learned her whole name at the Hospital. Isn't that fucked up? How could I love someone whose name i did not even know.?

This was going to be the hardest thing I had ever done. No amount of anime could prepare me for the action I was about to encounter. I drove to the address. It was a surprisingly nice neighborhood, the kind of place you wouldnt expect a drugged out whore to be. That was harsh. I take that back. Not the kind of place that I would expect Sandra to be. Before I went to the door, I smoked a blunt (something else that I got from Lexi's room. also something Lexi made grow on me.) i had a mask that I found in Lexi's room (While the paramedics were on the way I thought of this plan. Luckily the mask was in plain sight and I didn't have to get creative.) I put the mask on my face and grabbed the gun and walked to the door. I knocked and the door opened about 30 seconds later. When the door opened, I pointed the gun at the lady who opened it. She was shocked and immediately fell back. "Put your hands up lady!!!" I yelled. "Who else is in the fuckin house!?!?!" I demanded "If anyone else is in this goddamn house, you better come out now or Ima shoot this bitch." I yelled. The lady was crying. She was beautiful. Emaciated yet an oddly wonderful sight to look at. Her hair was it fritz. Her face worn down. Yet she was simply gorgeous. "Are you Sandra?" I yelled. The lady nodded up and down frantically. Just then I heard footsteps. Some guy was coming down the stairs as calm as he can be. The stairs were around the corner so i could not see who it was but he could talk to me. "Put down the gun son" he said. "whats your aim kid? You want money? Here have all the money u want, I'll write you a check." The voice was getting closer. I could finally see the man. It was my father...

"What is it you want kid? he asked me." I was startled. Shaken to tears almost. Thank God I had this mask on. I forgot to answer my dad, I was just silent with the gun pointing at Sandra. "Well kid are you gonna answer me?" He asked. I snapped back to reality. I was here on a mission. "Sandra you need to get your shit together and take care of your daughter. She needs you." I started. "She's currently at the hospital dying from an overdose. She's in a comma right fuckin now!!!! Because you want to runaway when shit gets tough. That girl is the best damn thing to ever happen to me. She's shown me so much in a so little time. She's helped me understand myself and all i want for her is to be taken care of." Sandra was crying. I had clearly struck a nerve. "Get clean, get home, and take care of your motherfuckin responsibilities, you never know when they're gone for good." I screamed. My dad was quiet in the corner. "Sandra you should go." he said. "before i became who i am today, a drug dealer and a safe haven for prostitutes, I had a family. I had a beautiful wife and a beautiful son. I loved that woman to death. She was the best thing that ever happened to me. Things were going well, we were a normal family. My wife was overseas, I was taking care of my son. When she came back, she was different. She was paranoid. Distant. Anxious all the time. I tried to love her and help her but she wouldnt accept it. One day she took my son and left a note that simply said "fuck you." I tried tracking her down a couple of times but everytime i see her she runs away. I've followed her almost to a fault man." My dad was tearing up, he was super emotional and I didn't know what to do. "ALl i wanted to do was see my son man." he said now in full blown tears. "All i wanted to do was love her." he was sobbing. "shoot me man!!! Shoot me!!!" he was screaming at me. I couldnt do it. I froze. He lunged at me and tried to wrestle the gun away from me. I fought back at him with all my mite. I was unsuccessful though. He secured the gun from me and put the gun to his head. I took my mask off as fast as I could but it was almost simultaneous with the gunshot, that went through his head. I don't know if he saw my face or not. I broke down in tears. So much shit has happened in the past day but none of it seemed real. Everything seemed like a movie. But this...this was very real. My father was dead. This man who my mom had written off as evil and abusive, was gone. I would never get to hear his side of the story other than what he shared in his final moments.

My family broken. Lexi's family broken. I sat in shock. In a detective's office. My mom outside of the office. Lexi's mom outside of he detective's office. And all I could think about was Lexi. Trying to bring her family together permanently broke mine apart.

My dad's death was ruled a suicide.

I watched a mother weep. Her daughter motionless in the hospital bed. The heart monitor steadily beeping. Her hand inclosing her daughter's hand. She looked to me and weakly whispered the words "its her birthday today." I was shocked once again. I walked over to the bed and leaned over it. "happy birthday Lexi" i said quietly. Her arm moved. Her hand found my elbow ever so slowly. Her eyes opened.

FIN.