River.

Chapter 169: Breathe.

Cassidy's P.O.V.

He stopped breathing as soon as we got to the hospital.

The doctors rushed him to the operating room and I refused to leave his side.

I was in too much of a state of shock to cry.

I had to be strong for everyone else.

Max was freaking out.

Legend and Mara were a mess.

Simartè was still crying her eyes out.

Raes sat at the back of the waiting room with his head lowered in his hands.

And Rome just sat staring off into space.

Sehrem literally had to carry me out of the operating room.

I didn't wanna leave him. 

I sat next to Max who hadn't said a word since we got to the hospital.

I'd never seen him so hurt in my life.

"I should have went with him..." He said.

"That wouldn't have made a difference." I assured him.

"You don't know that. I could have talked him out of it. This could have been prevented."

"Maybe. Maybe not. We don't know. Which is why you can't pin this on yourself."

"If he dies-"

"He won't. He'll pull through. He always does... I'm gonna go check on Legend okay?"

He nodded his head as I stood up.
"I'll come with you." Said Sehrem.

We made our way down to the first floor and outside of the hospital where Legend was sitting on a bench.

He was taking it the hardest.

"I know how you're feeling." I said as I sat on one side of him while Sehrem sat on the other side.

"Do you?" He asked.

"Yea unfortunately. I love him more than anything."

"Is that why you cheated on him so much?"

I was taken back by his comment but I didn't respond. I knew he was just grieving.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I didn't mean that. I just- this is hard."

"I know it is. But he's not gone yet. Don't give up so soon. You know how strong your brother is. River's gonna be up and talking shit again in no time." I chuckled causing him to smile a bit.

"But why would he do this to himself? I don't understand. He's never been one to quit."

"He didn't quit." Sehrem stated. "He risked his life to protect everyone else. If Peter had left that building, there's no telling how many kids in the Rift would be dead right now. He would've hunted them down until there was no one left... Including Kaiser. Peter had to die. River knew that. So he did whatever it took. Not only that, but as he told Mara, he's exhausted. He's been through so much in his life. He's lost a lot people. He's spent his entire life fighting for those he loved, living in fear, and being consumed with pain both physically and emotionally every single day. A man can only take so much. Even the strongest man in the world has a limit and he's the strongest person I know. There's no way I would've made it through half the things he's dealt with. But he's tired. He doesn't have much of a fight left in him anymore. And that's okay. Because whether he lives or dies, he's done his job. He did this so that our future still has a chance of being a good one. Now its up to us to make sure that it is."

After a bit longer, I got up and went back inside, leaving Sehrem and Legend to continue talking for a bit.

I went back to the waiting room and sat in the chair next to Raes.

This was all just so unreal.