Off The Ice

Chapter 26

Harry's POV

I wake up to the sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand of Sutton's guest bedroom. Everything in the room is still dark and Sutton is sleeping peacefully in front of me. I grab my phone and see my sister Gemma's name on the screen and gently slide myself off of the bed before leaving the room. I go across the hall to Sutton's room and close the door behind me, trying to contain the phone call to come. I answer the phone and sit on Sutton's empty bed. "Hello?"

"Harry! Harry, I'm scared!" Gemma wails into the receiver. I remain calm and try to be gentle with her. 

"What's wrong Gem?" 

"I was brushing my teeth and I saw mum and dad in the mirror! Harry, they're in the house!!" I can hear her crying through the phone. I swipe my hand down my face and try to contain my own emotions. 

"Gemma, mum and dad are gone. They're not in your house. It's not real. You're imagining things." 

"No, Harry I swear I'm serious this time. They're really here!!" I can picture her now. Tear streaks stained in her light makeup, her hair a mess from her pulling at it like she always does when she's frustrated. She's probably curled up in a ball in her cloest right now, tightly hugging her knees to her chest as she bangs her head lightly on the wall behind her. 

This is one of the diseases Gemma got from our parents; Psychosis. Gemma's been diagnosed with it for six years. It's a very dangerous mental disorder and it's also very complicated to explain. I don't even know what it is really, I just learned that some of the main symptoms are delusions and hallucinations, like now. Gemma's case is weird though. Doctors haven't seen anything like it. She'll have an episode, and then right when it's over she'll forget about all of it. She won't even know that she had a hallucination. She'll think she's completely normal. A lot of the time she isn't even aware that she has the disease. If it weren't for her daily medication she wouldn't know at all. 

"Gemma. Listen to me. Mum and dad aren't there. You're hallucinating."

"Harry, I swear." She whispers. 

"No Gemma. Mum and dad died over two years ago. I watched them kill themselves. They're not there." I say, trying to hold onto the firmness in my voice that is threatening to slip away. It always breaks me when she calls me like this. Her illnesses are much more severe than mine, I guess because she's the first born or some shit. I don't know.

I stay on the phone and listen to her sobbing, shallow breaths turn deeper and deeper. I hear her regain her composure and stop crying. "Harry? Is that you?" She finally asks. 

"Yeah, Gem." I answer with a small crack in my voice. 

"Why am I crying?" And just like that she's forgotten the whole thing. 

"Because you miss me. But don't worry, we'll see each other soon, I promise." We exchange goodbyes and I hang up before throwing my phone behind me and putting my heavy head in my hands. She's one of the only people I've ever cared this much for. She's family. Sure, I have my friends, but they're friends. They don't have the impact Gemma has on me. I'd do anything for Gemma, especially after everything we've been through together. We need each other. 

I wipe my face dry of any tear remnants and grab my phone from the bed before leaving the room and going back across the hall. As I turn around from gently shutting the guest room door behind me, I hear a stir come from the bed. "Harry?" A groggy Sutton asks. 

"Sorry. Had to use the toilet." I lie, quietly padding back to the bed. I crawl in and let Sutton maneuver her way over to me. She drapes her right arm around my torso and lays her head on my chest as I tangle my legs with hers to give us the closest connection possible.