Monstrous

Chapter 4

I shuffled slowly through the halls and my breathing began to quicken. The white walls and floors reflected the bright LED lights in the ceiling and blinded me. I blinked in a futile attempt to clear my vision but nothing happened. My steps faltered and I feel against the wall closest to me. Closing my eyes tight, I felt the world tilt on its axis, making my stomach churn.

After a moment, I reopened my lids and my sight finally adjusted so I could see clearly. It seemed that everyone around me had disappeared and I was left-a lone soul in the corridor that seemed never ending. The cries from around the further down the hall reached my ears as I continued on and I staggered again. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I turned the corner and my breath left my body.

Evan sat on the chair whispering quietly into the ear of the little girl that was upon his lap weeping into his shoulder. He stroked her hair gently and my heart shattered for the second time that day. I took a deep breath, walked over, and did my best to envelope them both in my arms.

Ava began to cry even louder and tears ran down Evan's face. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever, the three of us wrapped together until an older man in a long white coat approached and asked to speak to Evan alone. He handed Ava to me and walked away with the doctor.

I held my niece in my arms and paced the floor slowly and she nodded off to sleep, exhausted from the strenuous day she had endured. A few minutes later, Evan ran back over to us. "We have good news, thank god!" I took a deep breath, thinking that it was all over-everything was going to be okay.

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Liam had been on his way home after working late at the clinic two years before. He had been ten minutes away from home when another car that had been driving too fast ran into him, forcing him to hit a tree. The driver of the car and the passenger got out and ran from the scene.

The doctors worked on him immediately and managed to get the swelling down in his brain. He had woken up a few hours later. Liam was awake for two days, and was able to speak. Our parents drove up from the house they retired in in New Jersey. For two days we sat with this man that we all loved and thought that he was safe.

On the third day, something went wrong. The doctor said that Liam's brain had become extremely swollen overnight. His voice began to slur and he had difficulty moving his body. On the fourth day, he fell into a coma. On the fifth, he died.

I knelt in front of the giant marble stone, my fingers barely touching as I traced the letters upon the headstone. My brother had been gone for two years. Twenty four months without the one person in my life who had always been constant.

Liam was six years older than me and had always made it his job to take care of me. For as long as I could remember he was my knight in shining armor. I was the first person he had come out to. I was thirteen when he sat me down and told me, and in return I told him of me being bisexual.

There is something about having a sibling to tell everything to. They aren't like friends, who are always so fleeting, but this sturdy person that is truly there for you. Well, they are until some asshole who didn't want to follow traffic laws take them away from you.

Sniffling, I smiled gently while thinking about all the times when I had been sad, Liam was the person I went to. Whenever I was sad, he'd helped me lighten the load. While he was always there for me, I knew things were hard on him. His friends weren't so accepting of him at first.

For the first few years, he had really struggled. After a while things got better, and then he met Evan. The two hit it off right away and when Liam introduced us, I knew that they would be together forever.