Fix your tie.
Smooth your hair.
Look at the murderer in the mirror.
Looking back on that fateful February night, I wonder how I could have been so stupid; how I could have screwed up so horribly, so terribly. To have brutally murdered your daughter was not something any father should live with, ever. I assume that was the reason Callie was taken away from me.
The court hearing was beyond a miracle— it had to have been a godsend. Or, maybe Delilah was the one sending the miracle, I haven't a clue. Either way, the jury decides to take pity on my pathetic self and sentence me to no jail time, but a hundred-grand fine and my daughter taken away from me. I really couldn't care less about the money at this point, it's he fact that I'll never be able to see Callie again that haunts me, or her mother for that matter. Yes, Ana and I mutually decided to split apart for awhile— take a break, if you will. Although, I wouldn't consider it a break as much as a goodbye, taking into account the fact that I haven't received as much as a call or text in a month.
This, March fourteenth, will be the first day I get to see my family in over two weeks. Delilah's funeral. I can almost imagine her next to me now, pulling in my sleeve and telling me to "Hurry up!" before I made them late. Even in the hardest of times, Delilah seemed to find the light— in some ways, she was the light in those hard times. She was my flickering candle in the pitch-black evening and now she's gone. Gone for good and never returning.
I walk out of my car, slowly, shunning myself for what I did with each. sinful. step. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. You're pathetic. You can't even keep a daughter, or even a wife. You blew out your candle. You're in the darkness now, soldier. Let me warn you— the war takes no breaks.
The war takes no breaks.
The pain doesn't heal.
My wounds live on forever.
Forever, Brendon.
I take my seat just as a man steps up to the microphone in the front of the church Delilah's funeral is being held at. Being on time feels almost foreign to me, considering Delilah always made me get everywhere fifteen minutes prior to the event. At least now, I can be on time, I guess.
The man on the microphone starts to speak in somewhat to a monotonous tone, but I'm not listening a bit. I'm lost in my own thoughts— who wouldn't be in my position?
The man speaking stops and suddenly starts to cry, confusing me. Isn't this man a stranger to Delilah? Did he know her? I look up from the place on my hands where my eyes were resting and look at the speaker, only to realize that it's not just any speaker but Eddie. Ana's father Eddie, talking in front of more than three people at a time and actually physically starting to cry. That crying slowly morphs into bawling, terrible agonizing sobs of pain, loss, regret, misery and grief. Grief for the loss of his granddaughter, whom he'll never get back.
And it's all your fault, Brendon.
I see a hand reach out to rub his back, when I realize that Francesca had been there the whole time, crying next to him. These two people who I'd assumed "unfeeling" were actually crying in front of people.
And it's all your fault, Brendon.
I see Eddie and Francesca sit down once again after speaking, still shaking and sobbing violently. Ana takes the microphone next. The tears start to fall before she even opens her mouth.
"Hi," she starts, blushing at the sheer awkwardness of the beginning to her speech but still attempting to continue, "as most of you may know, I was Delilah's mother. She was my child, my baby, my beautiful beautiful girl. She meant everything to me; she was my sun, my moon, and all of my stars all at once." She pauses for a moment and collect herself before continuing,
"Delilah was taken from us far too early than any of us would have liked, but maybe that was God's plan for her. I'm not saying that I like it, because I would rather have had anything else in the world happen then for her to be taken from us, but it happened and I can't change that.
"I like to think Delilah is an angel... sent down here from heaven to spread joy and improve our lives, but taken from us just as quickly. She opened our hearts up to love, and that's all I could have wished for. So, thank you Delilah, if you're listening... and— and—" Ana opens her mouth up to continue, but she can't and is forced to sit down. I feel bad for her, having to sit down that quickly, but my pity morphs into a
Before I even have he chance to react to the situation, my legs are quickly moving towards the front of the church and I'm sobbing into the microphone. "She... she meant so much to me. She meant the world to me, they both did, Callie and Delilah. I just... I just can't believe it had to end this way... it hurts to even think about them now. About my family. It hurts to do anything without them now, because I did everything with them. It hurts to drive in an empty car, it hurts to live in an empty house, it hurts to sleep in an empty bed. Everything hurts, because I don't have anyone anymore. I have no family, no life, no will. I will always regret making the choice to try and save Delilah, every time. My actions were inexcusable, and we all suffered the consequence. A human life is something we cherish, something that we would die for... and I put an end to hers. I will never look at the man in he mirror the same way again."
It's all your fault, Brendon.
It's all your fault.
a/n heyyy guys sorry rushed ending haha also sorry for breaking y'alls hearts i love youuuuu
this chapter goes to... Clara595 and PopsterCK !! love y'all
bonsoir mes amis!!
-kat x
woad count: 1062
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#JustWriteIt - The Bronchiole Syndrome ✅
General Fiction"I just don't want to lose her, Brendon." God, help me keep this promise. - Set in present time, "The Bronchiole Syndrome" focuses on a man who's daughter is diagnosed with a deadly syndrome commonly called The Bronchiole Syndrome that could quite...
