Drowning in the Waves

Ch. 35: Funeral

Chapter Thirty Five

Colton’s POV:

I nodded in encouragement to Penny, knowing how hard this must be for her. She just lost both of her parent’s and now her aunt could possibly be on her death bed.

I was still in shock at what Trevor was saying to me over the phone. It all just seems like a horrible dream and I’ll soon wake up from it any moment. I watched Penny as her shoulders hung. She slowly walked through the double doors into the hallway. She looked back at the last second at me, her eyes swollen and red from crying.

I took a few deep breaths and slowly walked over to the waiting room across the hall, tears running down my face. I don’t know what I would do if Claire dies. She’s always been more of a mother than my own mother was.

I sat down in one of the chairs and pulled out my phone. Maybe playing a mindless game will get my mind off of things, I thought to myself. I played a stupid game for around 15 minutes and then stood up and paced the floor, now restless. Nobody was in the waiting room, and it was around 3:30 in the morning now.

I walked over to the vending machine and put a dollar bill in. I clicked the letter and number and a coke fell. I grabbed it and opened it. I took a sip and set it down, pacing again.

It wasn’t until around another half an hour later that Penny walked through the double automatic doors. The look on her face was the most sad and devastating face I have ever seen. I never want her to look that way ever again.

I took big steps over to her and wrapped my arms around her, bringing her close to me. She sobbed in my chest as I rubbed her back. All I wanted to do was comfort her and make the pain go away.

I was just as crushed. My heart was in my stomach as I reached the conclusion that I lost my mom tonight. But I had to be there for Penny because I know that this is 2 times worse for her.

She wrapped her small arms around me and buried her face even deeper into my chest. Looking up I saw Trevor, Gavin and Ben walk through the double doors and look up at us. Tears were running down all of their faces.

*****************

A few days later, I was walking Penny to my car to make our way to Claire’s viewing and funeral. The past few days have been so hard for everyone and all I could do was be there for my love and my best friends.

Penny had been a mess the passed few days, but today she pulled herself together. She dressed up in a simple black dress and black shoes. I opened the door for her and she ducked into my car not saying a word. All plans had be forgotten for the past few days.

Once I got in the car, Penny looked over at me and said, “Thank you so much for the past few days. I really needed someone there and both you and Clover had been a godsend. I just wanted to thank you,” She said.

“You never need to thank me for anything,” I said taking her hand and kissing it. We drove in silence and we soon got to the viewing.

Both the viewing and funeral went by fairly fast and we soon found ourselves back at home.

“Should we still have the fourth of july BBQ?” Gavin asked while everyone was sitting in the living room watching TV.

“I think mom would want us to,” Trevor said to him, “What do you think dad?”

Ben nodded in agreement, “I think we should, and it will give us an excuse to get our minds off of things,” He said.

“Then we should start getting on the invitations then,” Penny said speaking up. This should be good her her, I thought to myself. It’ll give her something to work on.

“Penny and I will make everything happen,” Clover volunteered and Penny shook her head in agreement.

“Honey, you don’t need to worry about that,” Ben said.

“No, I think it would be good for us. Get our minds off of things,” Penny said.

“Alright, if you want to,” Ben said shaking his head. The living room went quiet once again. Penny fell asleep in my arms once again, closing the night on a positive note for the first time in days.