Blue Christmas

Chapter 10- "I didn't know this would happen."

I walk to my room and get dressed: black leggings and a white sweater. I return to the living room and sit next to Zeke on the couch. There's a long silence between the two of us before Zeke finally talks, "I ran into your mom while I was at Walmart."

I shrug, "so what?"

"She's not mad at you, not in the slightest." He pauses and takes a deep breath, "she was telling me how she misses you and really hopes that you come back soon... because she needs you."

I watch as Zeke's eyes start to water, "what," I ask quietly. He doesn't say anything to me and I punch him in the stomach, "what, Zeke! Tell me!" He remains silent and I feel my eyes start to water. I get up and him in his chest, "tell me," I scream hysterically.

He puts his face in his hands and I listen carefully to the words that come out of his mouth, "your dad put her down as his emergency contact, in case anything ever happened to him." He pauses, looks up from his hands, and looks at me, examining me. I don't make any movements, not wanting what I know he's getting at to be true. Once he realizes I'm not going to say anything, he continues, "she got a call this morning, it was one of the other doctors. Your dad went out to try to bring back some people, and he," Zeke chokes on his words and I feel tears start to roll own my cheeks. "He was shot trying to carry one of his friends back to the base."

I collapse on the ground and look at the ceiling, "he was just fine yesterday!"

Zeke gets up from the couch and wraps his arms around me. I curl up in his lap, "I didn't know this would happen." I cry and cry and cry, taking heavy breaths as I lean on Zeke's chest. He holds me tight as I continue to break down.

I feel my heart pound in my chest, faster and faster, thumpthump, thumpthump, thumpthump. I feel my breaths becoming quick and short. I feel sweat starting to form on my forehead and I pull away from Zeke. I lean forward, getting the feeling that I might get sick. I rock back and forth, curling into a helpless ball. "There's no way you could have known," I mutter to myself, "no one could have." I scream and cry in agony, my heart speeds up. Faster. Faster. Faster. And then, everything goes black...