Letters to an Optimist

xxxiii

Ellie did several things at once.

She cried; because of seeing her cousin's punctured, bloody body. She screamed, because of all the bottled up frustration that was trapped within her, and she kicked anyone who tried to calm her down.  She knew it was silly what she was doing, but her grief confused mind didn't register the topic or actions of attempting being calm. Ellie just wanted to crawl into a small ball and cry her eyes out, cry them out raw until there is not a drop of water in her body. 

"Ellie, snap out of it!" Dave shook her shoulders but her sobs echoed off the walls and rung in his ears, he yelled over his shoulder for someone to bring him a blanket which was soon followed by the quietening footsteps of a running nurse. "Ellie..."

She was curled up in a ball, one of her fists in her mouth to stop the loud noises that forced it's way out of her throat, while the other hand rested on the place where her heart is. She clenched the fabric of the shirt she'd worn for the past two days, in her fist. She looked defeated, defenseless. And mainly, she looked utterly heartbroken with grief crusting it. 

No-one moved towards the sobbing girl on the ground, no-one but Dave. He held his best friend in his arms and tried to quieten her uncontrollable sobs. Each one racked her body in a painful manner that sent shivers down Dave's back.  He hated this, he hated it a lot. In fact, he wanted to stab everyone in the back for just staring, they didn't move to help; as if marble statues have replaced the people standing in the hospital's reception. They just stared.

"Come on," he whispered in her ear, his arms looped themselves under her arms and helped lift her limp form upwards. Off the ground, and into his arms.  He felt her shake with every breath she tried to take, he felt her slowly break inside and felt responsible for not prohibiting her from glimpsing Logan's corpse. He could have moved to stop her, grasp her forearm and hold her back while the paramedics wheeled Logan away on the gurney. 

He didn't thought, and it's a mistake he'll carry within his heart for a while, a long while. "Ellie, I'm getting you out-"

She whipped away from him, her dirty curls flying everywhere was the only thing he saw for a moment, before an aching pain started from his toes. Ellie stomped on his foot to get away from his embrace, once realization settled in, hurt flashed through him, cutting through him like a knife. "Ellie?" He whispered lowly, while his gaze followed her where she went. 

She held a post it note in her hand, and a stack of letters tied tightly with--what Dave presumed to be-- rope in her other hand. His gaze fell downwards once he noticed her cold glare. It was not aimed directly at him, but at everyone who stayed and watched her breakdown. "What?" Her tone was like ice, glazing everything in a thin sheet of utter confusion, worry and a slight amount of fear.

Ellie has been known to be rash, just like Logan. She has also been known to be a little bit... extreme? The correct term could be any other word, but extreme might suit it for the time being.  Dave opened his mouth but shut it once he noticed how everyone in the room seemed to be suffering a severe case of discomfort. 

"That's what I thought."

With that, the fury filled blue eyed girl stormed out through the hospital doors, letters in hand along with the post it note. Before she passed the doors, one of her hands shot out and snatched the leather jacket that smelled of cigarettes and washing powder; to her.

***

He saw everything in a different way.

He saw everything in darkness, for he could barely see anything. Everything was blank, either the darkest of black, or the brightest of white. As if an unwanted war of hate, confusion, love and wonder broke out, and he was in the middle of it all.