The Duet

Chapter Twenty Three

The sun that shined through my window dragged me out of sleep. When I cracked my eyes open the first thing I saw was the calendar on my side table.

May 18.

It’s been four years.

Today was mom’s death anniversary. I remember that the crystal clear. I remember getting the call, rushing through the hospital, seeing her lifeless body in the ICU. I remember how much I cried that night; and the night after that and the night after that. It was one of the worst pains I’ve ever felt.

I groggily rubbed my eyes and dragged myself out of bed and into the washroom to get ready to face the day. May 18 was never an easy day for me. It added onto the number of years since she last held me in her arms, the last time she said she loved me. This day was a reminded that she’s gone.

It was still pretty early by the time I was dressed for the day and making my way to the kitchen. It was a 7:30, Sunday morning; no one wakes up before 12 on a Sunday. I usually didn’t. But today was different. My brothers were still asleep. I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and went to the foyer and shoved my feet into my blue converse. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.

The morning wind nipped at my exposed legs and arms as I walked to Austin’s house. I knew he wasn’t awake yet either but I wanted to see him right now. When I walked up the driveway of his house, I saw his mother closing the door behind her. She was dressed in purple scrubs and white nurse shoes. I’m assuming she has a morning shift today.

“Hey, Kat” Mrs. Desmyn smiled. “I can’t really talk right now because I’m late for my shift, but you can go inside if you’d like. Austin’s still asleep though.”

I nodded. “Thank you Mrs. Desmyn. Have a great day.”

“You too sweetie. Maybe I’ll see you after my shift.”

She got into her silver car and backed out of the driveway. She waved to me one last time before driving down the street to the hospital. I went up the wooden door and knocked three times. When no one answered, I grasped the knob of the door and twisted it. The door opened. I showed myself inside and locked the behind me. I kicked off my converse and jogged up the stairs. I walked down the small hallway to the last door on the left. It was Austin’s room.

I carefully twisted the door knob and pushed open. The room was very dim except for the streaks of sun that came in through the cracks of his curtain. I walked inside the room slowly, towards Austin’s bed. He was lying on his stomach, half his face buried in his pillow. His blanket has slipped down to his waist so his muscular back on sight. His light snores filled the room. When I realized I was checking him out in his sleep, I felt myself blush. I carefully sat on the edge of his bed, trying to not wake him up.

But I did anyways.

When the mattress sunk down from my weight, he began to stir around sleepily. When he stopped stirring he brought a hand up and rubbed his eyes sleepily before opening them.

“Hey” he yawned. “I didn’t expect you to be awake right now.”

“Me too.” I said. “Sorry for waking you. You usually can sleep through anything.”

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You look exhausted.”

I shrugged.

“Kat what’s wrong?” he repeated, sitting up.

“Today is mom’s death anniversary.” I answered. “I don’t know. I woke up feeling empty I guess. I don’t know if it’s because it’s been four years since the whole accident or knowing my dad has been raising another family for four years now …” “