The Lake (Short Story)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

When they arrived at the hospital they didn’t let anyone into the room Jeremy was in. it seemed to take hours. The doctors pulled Grant and Gen away a few times; to speak privately.

Echo was getting impatient.

What’s going on?! Where’s my brother? She wanted to scream at the doctors.

About thirty minutes later, a doctor came in, his face expressionless as he stared at the family. Gen’s lower lip quivered and Grant looked as if he were about to fall.

“Mr. and Mrs. Maine,” he began “I’m very sorry. Your son did not make the medical procedures.”

Someone screamed. Echo wasn’t sure who it was, until all eyes were on her, and she realized that it was her own blood-curdling scream, Gen and Grant broke into tears, and Echo just couldn’t breathe.

Jeremy. The little boy who was seven! Seven years old!

“He can’t be!” Echo yelled. “You have to check on him! Go, let me see him!”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Maine, but you’re brother died on the way here.” He looked away. His eyes glazed. “Jeremy Maine is dead”

“No.” Echo whispered, tears falling down her face. “NO! He can’t be, I was just with him yesterday! Yesterday!” Echo turned away and broke out into harsh tears.

The tears burned. It made her want to die.

Jeremy couldn’t be dead. He was a boy; a little boy.

Echo looked around blindly, and grabbed the keys to the car, she ran out of the waiting room and out to the ER entrance. She got in the car and started it.

She drove blindly. She could barely see the road, but she had to get where she was going. The tears ran down her cheeks and she felt her heart explode.

Jeremy was her brother. Her baby boy!

Finally she met her destination and ripped the keys from the ignition, and ran to the back of her house. She screamed, loud and angry.

“How could you!” Echo screamed at the Lake. “That was a boy! A baby! He was barely eight! How could you take him from me! How!” she screamed, her knee’s giving in.

“Jeremy was a baby! He was too young to die! Why?!” there was no answer. Of course there wasn’t going to be. The Lake didn’t even know how to respond. It was a damn Lake!

“Jeremy!” Echo screamed at the Lake. “Jeremy! Come back! Jer!” Echo cried. She buried her face in the ground.

Jeremy wasn’t coming back. He was gone. Gone! He was still a baby! How could he be the one? Why!

“JEREMY!” she screamed louder.

But there was no answer. The Lake had taken what was hers, and it wasn’t going to give it back. There was no way to get Jeremy back.

His short years . . . seven years! He can’t be just seven! That was too young.

“He was a baby! He deserved a longer life! He was special! Dammit, he was! Why him?” she asked the Lake. But it didn’t even move. Not a single ripple.

The Lake was as dead as her brother.