Even More Reasons - m.c

Chapter 19

"Are you the reason she went back?"

Michael's P.O.V.

"Uh, hear what?" I asked Mrs. Parker as I left the room to get some privacy. "What's going on?"

"Shay's not doing too well, sweetie."

"Wait. What happened?"

"Well when did you speak to her last?"

"Probably a week ago, maybe a little longer."

"Michael, her grandma passed away a week ago, on her father's side."

Why didn't she tell me that? It made sense that may make her less social but I couldn't believe she didn't want to tell me that.

"Oh my god, I had no idea. I am so sorry to hear that. Seriously, my condolences."

"I appreciate it but she was really affected by it."

"I know, Shay were super close to her." 

Her grandparents came to visit us one weekend when we first met on the lake & Shay had always been closer to her grandparents, especially the ones on her dad's side.  

"I, uh, can I ask what happened?"

"She had a heart attack, she went into cardiac arrest. It was sudden."

"Oh my god. I really am sorry."

"Thank you, Michael."

"So has Shay just been hiding away then?"

"Yea but no. Not exactly."

"Well then what? Where is Shay?"

"Right after her death, Shay went on a binge."

"A drinking binge?" My stomach knotted up. "Is that what you mean?"

"Yea, unfortunately. After her dad told her the news, she didn't leave her apartment or answer to anyone for two days. We wanted to give her time to grieve but then we got worried so we went to go check on her & it wasn't pretty."

"What do you mean by that?"

"She was probably drinking for those two days straight by that point. She was a mess Michael, to be honest. She was a mess. She yelled at us, she tried to kick us out, she threw a bottle at the wall out of anger."

"What did you do then?"

"Her dad stayed with her overnight, he took care of her, they talked a lot about losing her grandma once she had slept it off. We had the funeral the next morning so we sort of put Shay's relapse on the back burner because we had that to focus on & pay our respects."

"I understand that."

"She struggled through the funeral, she was very emotional. Shay is taking this loss very hard. She doesn't do well with death."

"I know, we talked about that a lot. Weirdly enough, we talked a lot about the day either of us would lose someone close to us & I could always tell she struggled with that. We talked about death and grieving and what happens after death. I know she hates the thought."

"That's exactly it. So after the funeral, she went back home & she told me she'd call me after she took a nap because she needed to unwind from the day. But when she hadn't called by the evening, I went over there right away just to make sure she was okay & I found her completely gone, Michael."

"What do you mean completely gone?"

"I had to bring her to the ER."

"Shit. What? Why the hospital?"