Never coming home *Mikey Way*

Chapter 7

Chapter title: Lonely, lonely Death

Before Meadow even knew what she was doing, she was running as fast as she could. Her feet pounded against the cracked pavement, making her soles ache. Her heartbeat was the only thing she could hear; it was hammering in her ears and drowning out every sound around her. Truth be told, she didn't know where she was running, all Meadow knew was that she had to get away. A forest loomed ahead, dark and mysterious, yet inviting. It looked calm and was what Meadow needed.

The air seemed to instantly cool in the forest; dew glistened on the leaves and birds lightly chirped. In the distance, she could hear running water — a river, perhaps. Sighing, Meadow leaned against a nearby tree and rested her head on her hands. She let out a choked sob, hating the sound and instead, turning to bite on her lip to stop it. The metallic taste of blood slowly spread through her mouth, bringing her to spit it out onto the floor. 

Her tears flowed freely down her face, dropping onto the dirt covered floor. She could feel that familiar feeling in her stomach - the knot that just wouldn't leave. Her skin became cold and clammy, even though it was a hot day, her breathing was quickening, leaving her to gasp in short breaths and she felt like she was being watched from all angles at once. Standing up, she did a full circle. She couldn't see anyone. It was just her in this section of the woods, and she knew that, but anxiety makes you believe weird things. Another sob escaped her lips. Another tear fell to the ground. In the distance, she could hear Brendon calling for her, but she knew she couldn't give into the problems she faced now, she was too vulnerable. So instead of doing the rational thing, she ran from her problems and further into the woods. Running around a set of trees, Meadow came to a clearing and found the little river she had heard from before. Walking up to the clear body of water, she took off her shoes and dunked her feet in, the cold water instantly calmed her down and allowed her to steady her breathing. 

'It's your fault she's gone...' A voice in the back of her head murmured, 'maybe if you had of stopped her then-'

"Shut up!" Meadow screeched desperately while lifting her hands to pull at her hair, "just please, shut up."

Her shouting must have alerted something because she heard rustling by the trees. "Meadow is that you?" Brendon emerged from the trees and sat down next to Meadow. "You okay?"

"My mother just died," Meadow whispered.

"You still didn't answer my question," Brendon stared off into the distance.

Meadow didn't answer that question for a long time, but when she finally did she surprised both Brendon and herself. "I don't know. I mean, I am so sad, I feel like my heart has been squashed, but well, in reality, she's been dead for years. She would just lay there, a machine had to breathe for her, a machine had to eat for her, a machine did everything for her, and she never woke up. It's just hard to deal with the fact that now my Wednesdays are going to be empty and I will never get to see her again." 

Brendon looked at her like she had just said the most inspiring thing, "so you don't know what to do on Wednesdays now?" He asked. Meadow nodded her head in agreement. "Well you know I have to go soon anyway, I will probably be back for the funeral. Between us, I think my parents got that job in one of the American hospitals anyway, but I have an idea. What about you hang at Mikey's every Wednesday during the designated time you would stay with your mother?"

Meadow once again didn't answer for a while, staring off into the water and looking at the little currents that were created each time a little bug landed on the water. "Perhaps."

That's how they spent their afternoon, sitting in the middle of a forest in silence. Meadow lost count of how long they sat in silence; maybe it was minutes, maybe it was hours, who knows. It wasn't until Meadow's phone rang did she realise the time, "hey Brendon, we've been here for three hours," she mused as she answered the phone. "Yeah?"

"Meadow! Where have you been!" It was her grandma. "I have been worried sick, are you ok-"

"I am in the forest with Brendon," Meadow interrupted.

"The forest? Meadow,  you realised that someone was kidnapped and killed there right? Get out there now!"

"That was years ago, and besides that happens in many forests and I have Brendon," Meadow interrupted, "look, I'll come back now. Where are you?"

"The hospital."

"Okay, we're on our way," Meadow sighed and hung up the phone, "Come on Bee, back to the hospital."

The pair slowly walked back to the hospital, buying their time to be faced once again with the harsh reality that was known as death. 'At least death always welcomes you with open arms,'  Meadow thought to herself, 'at least mother will be welcomed somewhere other than a hospital room. Maybe that's why so many people die; maybe Death is lonely and takes people's loved ones as revenge for being kept so lonely for so long.'

"Do you think Death is lonely?" Meadow spoke up, "do you think that's why they took my mother away from me? She was dead all along; she just latched onto the physical world in her unconscious state; she didn't want to be Death's friend. Maybe Death is angry at her now and will take it out on us again; maybe Death will take someone else special to us." 

"Perhaps," Brendon whispered, his head down and hands in his pockets.

The hospital loomed ahead; its' white exterior standing out against the grey, gloomy landscape. As they walked in, the sterile smell immediately hit their noses and made them screw them up at the horrible smell. Meadow and Brendon started the walk to the cafeteria, craving food. 

Grace was seated in the corner of the cafeteria, all by herself with just a crappy cup of coffee as her company. Meadow gestured for Brendon to wait by the doorway before shuffling in to sit with her grandmother. As she sat, it brought Grace's attention away from her coffee, bringing her red-rimmed eyes to meet Meadow's matching ones. Grace shakily brought her hand to clasp around Meadow's, "it's going to be okay," Grace said, mainly to comfort herself, "we will get through this."

Meadow smiled slightly and nodded in response. 'I'll be okay,' she thought, 'it's only one death in the vast scheme of things...'

A/N

I changed the cover! What do you all think?