Never

Chapter Nine

A few days later...

"How is everyone doing so far?" Olivia asked over the phone. I sighed in response

"Otto's definitely taking this really hard..." I replied. "He hasn't even left his room now from what Ivor told me. He doesn't want to see anyone, not even his sister..."

"Oh, the poor guy..." Olivia said sadly. "He and Hadrian must've been really close..."

"Best friends" I stated. "Basically brothers. I just hope he'll be OK at the funeral..."

"When is the funeral?" Olivia asked me. "I want to attend" I smiled sadly. She was the first of the order who wanted to attend, Lukas was still debating it and the news hadn't reached Axel nor Petra just yet as both had gone on a quick trip into The Portal Hallway for a quick, casual adventure. However, my smile faded almost instantly when I thought of when the funeral was held. Technically, we didn't have a date for it. Inefficient, I know, though we had our reasons, and a good one at that

"It'll be about a week after Mevia wakes up" I stated. "Despite wanting to give Hadrian a proper goodbye, Otto and Harper don't want to start the funeral without Mevia since she is Hadrian's wife after all"

"I understand" Olivia replied. "How is Mevia doing? Will she wake up anytime soon?"

"The doctors check in on her occasionally, but all of her wounds have healed" I explained. "They think she may have suffered brain trauma which is why she's still in her coma, though there's no internal bleeding. However, the doctors did specify that she did suffer damage in one part of her brain. I don't remember the name of it, but... It's the part that stores all your memories... She may have amnesia when she wakes up..."

"Are they just figuring this out?!" Olivia asked, alarmed and slightly annoyed. I nodded, even though we were chatting over the phone and she couldn't see me

"Apparently, yeah" I answered, strangely casual. "They were so focused on her external injuries that they never considered her internal ones. They're still checking for any other trauma caused, though nothing seems out of the ordinary" Olivia sighed a little

"I can't believe that..." She said. "Oh... I hope Mevia doesn't wake up with Amnesia. If I was her, I would rather know my husband has passed on than to attend a funeral of someone who I am supposedly close to but can't remember..." Once again, I nodded in agreement

"Agreed" I spoke. "I'm more concerned on how she'll react to it all once she does wake up. Imagine being asleep for almost two months, then suddenly waking up, hearing the news on your spouse's recent passing and everything else that had happened while you were asleep... It... It would be hard to swallow..." I heard Olivia gulp, most likely upset by the thought I had now plagued her mind with

"Y-Yeah..." She muttered. "I hope-" Olivia suddenly turned her attention to something else. From the muttering I heard, she was speaking to Calvin. I heard her sigh a little as her attention was brought back to our conversation. "I have to go Jesse. Another argument started between the dang school boy and disco stew..." I giggled a little. Olivia still called them by the nicknames we had come up with when we first entered Redstonia

"That's fine Olivia, you better break it up" I replied. "I'll text you the date of the funeral when we know when it is"

"Thanks Jesse" Olivia replied. "Tell the others I send my condolences. Bye!" Olivia hung up. I sighed and put my phone away, sitting down by the bed where Hadrian once laid. In the few days after his passing, Radar and I had been trying to inform all his friends as quickly as we could, prioritising Otto and Harper, and now sending the message to anyone else he was either close to or that assisted him in some way. Once I called Harper only an hour after his passing, apparently when she spoke to Otto about it, he... He just broke. He hasn't left his room and refuses to speak to anyone... I felt quite bad for him and was starting to worry for him as well. I didn't want to see another friend of mine delve into depression, especially after hearing about what happened to Aiden. I may have not been there, but from what I heard, he... He wanted to... I didn't want to think about it, at least not now... Harper was taking it all fairly well, though from what Ivor told me she's quite saddened by Hadrian's passing but is trying to stay strong for Otto. At the very least if Harper was to fall into depression, Ivor would be there to catch her and pull her out of it all, and with Harper steady, she can help Otto with his grief. Other than Hadrian's closest friends, everyone has been shaken by his passing. Radar was saddened by his death and shaken from it all, but even though I offered him a break to visit his family, he shook it off and said he wanted to keep working. Lukas, while he still admits he doesn't like Hadrian for what he did, he does feel remorse for his friends and offered to help us whenever possible. Hopefully, he'll be attending the funeral. Everyone else I intend to inform hasn't gotten the news just yet, but hopefully I can at least convince them to attend the funeral, if not for Hadrian, but for us. It was Lukas' main drive to join me there as I was very distraught over Hadrian's passing, so hopefully that can convince Axel and Petra to come. They did feel sorry for Hadrian, especially after hearing that he wouldn't make it, but they were certainly bitter about what he did at The Games... I'll admit, I am as well, but more because I now knew that isn't who he was. That Hadrian was someone completely different. Finally, I was able to meet the real Hadrian, but just as I got to know him, he passed on...