Not Mine

~Part 16~

Alex, Laf, and John stayed back to make sure Philip was fine when he woke up, and everyone else headed off in their own directions and they waited. For a long time.
They sat around for a few more minutes after that while before John asked, "Uh... Sorry if this is a sensitive topic... but... after the- the hurricane? How exactly did you get here? You don't have to tell me... if you don't want to..."
Alex looked over at him and sighed before saying, "I... I might tell you... when Philip wakes up... I still have a bunch more to explain to him..."
"What do you mean 'bunch more'?"
"I kindof just threw a bunch of stuff on him without explaining anything..."
"Like?"
"What happened between me and Maria... I just told him about you being born to us and didn't answer most of the questions he had after..."
"Oh... Right..." John looked down and sighed.
Philip opened his eyes and looked over at Alex, "Thanks for waiting for me, I guess if you want you can explain now."
Alex jumped in shock, "How.. How long have you been awake!?"
"Not that long, just enough to know you were gonna wait."
     John looked over at Alex, "Uh.. A-Alex?"
     "Yeeeees?"
     "Why... why didn't yo-you kill me... Wh-when you c-could..."
     "Oh my god," tears started forming in his eyes, "John.."
     "Crap.. That was too much... Wasn't it..?"
     Alex shook his head 'No' then took a deep breath, "We weren't the ones who wanted to kill you, the doctors were. They figured it would make everyone's life easier... But I'm glad we didn't listen to them."
     "Heh... Wow..."
     Alex slowly nodded before continuing, "So... hurricane... right... Don't feel bad for me, I don't want that. I was alone and started working as hard as I could, then other people saw me and realized I deserved more than being in that small, ripped-apart town, so everyone raised enough money for me to get on a ship that was sailing off to New York..."
     Philip looked over at him, "Oh. Wow," then thought for a second, "Wait. How long have I been sleeping?"
     "Uh... couple hours?"
     "NO!" He jumped up and sprinted around the house.
     Alex got up and started running after him, "Philip! Where are you going!?"
     "I need to wake myself up so I can get back to work!" He ran towards Alex, hoping to be able to pass him.
Alex wrapped his arm around Philip, "You already did all your work, what else could you do?"
Philip tried getting away, which only caused Alex to hold him tighter, "Leee goooo, I neeeed to workkkk... So much to dooooo." Philip bit Alex's arm, which caused him to let go.
"What was that for!!??" Alex grabbed his arm in pain.
Philip stopped in his tracks and turned back to him, "I needed to get out so I could find work!" He turned back around, right into Laf. Laf grabbed him, "Wow you're obsessed with work."
"Crap I forgot you were here... Sh-shut up and let me go!"
"No, you have no work, so just enjoy the day!"
Philip rested into Laf, "Fine... Just for today though..."
Laf got his phone out to check the time, "20:37," before bringing Philip over to the couch.
     Alex walked over to them before hearing a knock on the door, "Who could it be this time." He walked over and answered, "Oh, hey J! Welcome back!"
     J sighed and slowly nodded.
     "Is something wrong?"
     "H-Herc... got in... in a major car crash... He-he's in ICU..." J leaned into Alex and started sobbing into him.
     "Shh.. Herc seems tough enough, I'm sure he'll be just fine." Alex reassuringly patted the back of J's head.
     "B-but he's ne-never been in.. in any-anything like th-this b-befo-fore..." J could barely talk through his tears.
     "Is he allowed to have visitors?"
     "Y-yeah... I- I came here to ask.. If- if you could bring me to s-see him?"
     "Of course I will!" He answered, then called back to the living room, "I'll be back later!" Alex heard a faint "Alright," before bringing J to the hospital.
     "Wow... It's like I was just here..."
     "Ye-yeah... He.. he's in there..." J pointed to a room a few doors down.
     Alex led him over to the room, going kindof slowly. They walked in to see Herc in there by himself.
     "Herc? Where did the doctors go?"
     Herc looked over at them, "Oh heyyyy... They... they ga-gave up on me... I won't make it..."
     J started screaming, "NO! REMEMBER? 'YOU KNOCK ME DOWN I GET THE F*CK BACK UP AGAIN!?!?!?' PLEASE!!!!"
     Herc tried to smile at him before his face fell again, "I'm sorry...," he took his final breath, "Looks like I didn't get the f*ck back up again..." The heart monitor flat-lined, signaling a fallen friend.