[🌸] Admit It | Riren/Ereri AU

19 | goodbye, old friend

Unedited
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"What do you mean there's been an accident?"

"I mean exactly what I say, Mr. Ackerman," says the woman at the end of the line.

I could feel my heart quicken at an uneven pace as I slowly stood from my unmade bed and walked over to the bathroom to quiet the noise I was making. I did not want to awaken my sleeping boyfriend.

It was nearly twelve and I was about to turn over for the night when I received an unknown caller from my mother's phone. The woman identified herself as nurse Historia, a nurse at Trost Hospital, just a few miles from Sina University.

Historia soon explained to me that my mother had been in a car crash just a few hours ago, but was now recovering. She also explained that there was a companion with her, but she wouldn't give me any details on who it was. She said that it was my mother's job to explain further.

"Let me speak with her," I order in a slightly harsh tone, but I quickly add, "Please."

There was static at the end of the line as the phone was pressed against Historia's chest in order to muffle the sounds of their voices. My mother was soon handed her phone, her machines creating soft beeps in the background as she silence sunk in.

We sat there in the deep silence. I didn't rush her to speak, even though I was eager to have my questions answered. I bit my tongue as I waited for my mother's explanation, my heart now in slow, heavy beats.

"Buddy is dying."

It came so naturally from her lips, as if she were practicing the line over and over again. There was still some strain in her voice, the hitching of her breath when she finally spoke; but it was still so natural as if she knew it would have come down to this.

I wasn't prepared for it. My body automatically shut down from the sudden shock. My legs were stiff, voices inaudible, movement unavailable; but my heart quickens its pace once more, the whole thing was at the verge of thumping straight out of my chest.

How? How could this have happened?

It isn't his time, not yet. This isn't how things are supposed to be, he was healthy, perfectly normal when I left' but now he was about to leave me.

No.

I don't believe it. I can't believe it. I won't believe it.

"Levi, are you okay? Answer me," my mother's voice strains from the other end of the call.

I want to scream, but all that escapes my lips were inaudible wheezes as my breath hitches. Eren isn't awake, he is sound asleep in his separate bed; but right now, at this very moment, I need him.

My mother calls my name again, telling me to calm down; but I can't calm down. I just can't.

I swallow hard, but the lump in my throat is still there. I wheeze, trying to catch a simple breath. "Where is he," I force the words to escape.

"Trost Animal Clinic."

"If it comes to it, I need to be the one to put him down."

* * *

Arriving at the clinic, all I could do was pace in the waiting room while Buddy went under the knife. He was going under extensive surgery to remove the glass shards from his sides and repair his organs that had been severely crushed on impact. It was a risky procedure, and I was warned that he would most likely give out from blood loss and his old age; but I knew Buddy, and Buddy was a strong dog, no, a strong friend.