rumour has it | ✓ [ old version ]

xl. she's gone

CHAPTER FOURTY

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"See, I told you-." My words stop when I see Mitchell fast asleep with his head on my shoulder. He looks relaxed, his eyes are closed and his face is one of peace. I wish he'd be like that when he wakes up, but sadly he can't because his reality is horrible and no one wants to wake up to that.

I pause the movie and close my laptop before putting it to the side. Unexpectedly, Mitchell's phone begins to ring and quickly I grab his phone and answer it, so that way the ringing doesn't wake him up. The black circles underneath his eyes are vibrant, so he's in desperate need of sleep and I want him to get as much as he can.

"Hello?." I say into the phone.

"Mitchell?." Natalie asks through the speaker.

"No it's Faye." I tell her "what's wrong?." I can hear the urgency in her voice and that causes worry to settle in the pit of my stomach.

"Where's Mitchell?." She asks, ignoring my question.

"He's asleep next to me, why?." I question with narrowed eyebrows, even though she can't see me.

"You guys need to get to the hospital as soon as you can." She orders.

"Why? What's wrong?." I ask again.

"Julia's gone." Immediately after those words left Natalie's mouth, we said our goodbyes and I proceed to wake Mitchell up. After shaking him a couple of times and whispering his name, he finally flutters his eyes open before looking at me with questioning eyes. I didn't want to tell him, but I knew I had to; I just didn't want to see the broken look he'll have after telling him.

"Everything okay?." He asks, his voice raspy.

"We need to get to the hospital." I tell him. Without saying anything else, Mitchell and I make our way out of my room and downstairs before running through house, me grabbing my keys along the way, we proceed to exit the house and into the night sky, the chilly wind rubbing against our skin. This seems like déjà vu. After we're in the car, I turn on the engine and begin making my way to the hospital, the small hope that Julia being alive not there like it usually is.

My eyes remain on the road as I try my hardest to keep in the tears that desperately want to escape. Mentally, I keep telling myself to keep the tears in for Mitchell, he didn't need to see me cry when he alone is trying to keep his emotions in tact. My hands grip the steering wheel tightly, causing my knuckles to turn white. I couldn't repeatedly say in my mind that Julia's okay because she's not. She's gone and now, the Preston's have to deal with her lose and goodness knows how badly Mitchell's gonna be.

Unexpectedly, Mitchell's hand grabbed mine and place our intertwined fingers in his lap. I look to him and he gives me a sad smile, it was than that I realised a few small tears escaped my eyes. I give him a small smile back before returning my attention back to the road while his attention returned to looking outside his window.

A few silent minutes later and we were finally pulling up to the hospital. Immediately, when I put the car in park in an empty space, Mitchell and I get and rush inside the hospital. While walking down the hall toward Julia's room, I see in the distance Natalie and Mr Preston holding each other, crying in one another's arm. Athena didn't look too well either, she covers her mouth with her hand, trying to hold in her sobs. A doctor stands before them all, pity filling his eyes.

"Mum?." Mitchell asks when we reach where they stand.

Natalie looks to her son with sad eyes and tears falling down her cheeks "she's gone."

And that causes Mitchell to release a scream-like cry that broke my heart and made me want to wrap him in my arms and keep him safe from the horrible world we live in.