Ronan: To the Moon and Back

49. Aftermath: Wednesday not Friday

The house is eerily quiet. The rising morning sun casting a soft hue of light through the house. It filters in through the blinds, painting everything it touches in stripes of gold and black. It's so quiet, one can almost hear dust particles land on the furniture inside the house. The weather seems to be in an opposite mood; the faint songs of birds twittering scattered in the trees, as the first signs of springs finally come into play. It's been warming up, the sun has been shining like it's got something to smile about. Like the giant ball of flames dances happily in space, and decides that everyone below should share it's joy.

A sigh is released; sounds like the definition of pity. It makes Rae's eyes flutter back into focus from staring at the sunrise's patterns on her wooden floor. When she has enough sense of herself again, she looks up for the source of the sound. Kari is suddenly next to her, gently tugging something out of her loose grip and placing it on the night table with a soft thud.

"Does your mother know you've gone through nearly two bottles of wine?" Kari questions gently.

She moves like she's about to push strands of Rae's hair back when she pauses. Instead she directs her hand next to her right knee, picking up another bottle. Rae hears her mutter a string of curses under her breath, watching as her friend shakes her head a little. She places the empty bottle, this one much smaller and thinner, next to the wine bottle. Kari pinches the bridge of her nose for a moment, pulls something out of her purse and grabs Rae's right hand. She begins putting a glove on said hand and Rae just allows her.

"How many times did you throw up?" Her friend asks, tightening the elcro around the wrist of the glove.

Rae says nothing but holds up two fingers. Kari moves on to the next hand, starting the same process over.

"Not surprising. Whiskey and wine do not mix well and you should know that." Kari pats her hand when she's done, then finally moves Rae's hair aside. "Your phone's dead, by the way."

Rae glances down at her phone by her left knee. The screen's been black since she got off the phone with Louis seventeen hours ago. She had a serve panic attack over the phone, which took Louis nearly two hours to fully and completely calm her down. She later realised, through the mist of her frantic mind, and after she was finally able to breath properly, Louis had been crying. 

She remembers how raspy and shaky his voice was when he asked her questions, when he cooed to her through the speaker. She recalls hearing soft sniffs, as if he was trying to hide the fact that he was upset. However, she could't tell if he was crying because of the news she dropped on him, or if he was just was blindly frustrated and terrified that he couldn't get to her personally. Her phone died just minutes after she hung up, never bothering to plug it in.

She nods.

"Have you eaten anything?"

Rae shakes her head no.

"Taken a shower?"

No again.

"Have you moved at all?"

"Check on mum." Rae finally mumbles, slurring a bit.

Kari sighs again. "Well, you sure did a number on your chest."

Looking down, Rae now just notices how red her chest is. She quickly looks back up, deciding not to tell her friend that she doesn't even remember doing that. It explains the gloves. When she fixes her gaze on Kari again, she's frowning. Rae doesn't want pity, despite how pitiful she may seem at the moment. She decides that maybe she shouldn't show this horribly pathetic side while she's in the presence of others, and especially not her mother.