Te Extraño

11~ Amnesia

If today I woke up with you right beside me
Like all of this was just some twisted dream
I'd hold you closer than I ever did before
And you'd never slip away
And you'd never hear me say

“Doctor, how did this happen?”

Dr Palt was with Ashton, tidying up the room Joy had previously located. Calum, was sitting against the wall, staring straight ahead with a look on his face of zero purpose. His arms felt empty and he just wanted to have Joy in his arms again. He seemed to be well out of tears to cry at that point and absolutely no one blamed him.

“Well, you see, an unfortunately common problem for lung cancer patients is what we call the ‘drowning on land’ infection. Basically, it’s a build up of fluids in the lungs that needs to be drained with a chest tube. Unfortunately, she wasn’t brought in in time and she was gone before we could even install it. I’m sorry.” Dr Palt explained softly.

Ashton nodded softly and wiped at a tear away that was running down his face. Calum looked up before silently standing up and walking out of the room. Ashton decided he should follow him, just to make sure he was safe. He quickly thanked the doctor and speed walked behind Calum, silently following him.

Calum only felt anger. Why did Anne-Marie wait so long to bring Joy here? If she brought her earlier, he might still have a fucking daughter.

“What the fuck were you thinking, Anne?” Calum hissed, pointing a finger threateningly at Anne-Marie.

“Wh- What?” Anne-Marie stuttered.

“Calum?” Ashton questioned.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing? Waiting until the last second to bring Joy in?” Calum spat.

“No, I-”

“Save it. You know, if you didn’t sit on your ass and brought her in earlier, we’d still have a fucking daughter.” Calum growled, shaking his head softly.

“Calum,” Ashton spoke warningly, silently telling him to shut the fuck up and not say anymore.

“Ashton, take Michael. I don’t trust our kids around her anymore.” Calum ordered.

Tears welled in Anne-Marie’s eyes and Calum realised what he’d said. Fuck, he didn’t mean it and his face showed it, strewn with more guilt than you could imagine. He stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief with himself.

“I- I’m sorry,” Calum breathed.

That’s when Calum took off running. He just needed to get away from all the bullshit.

Ashton ran behind him but couldn’t quite keep up. Calum ran extremely fast when he was upset. He always has.

Calum decided to head to the old radio tower that hadn’t been running for years. When he was a kid, he’d always go there if shit got too much. Of course, back then it was simply stress about grades and crushes but now, he was going to climb.

Calum felt nothing but hatred at that point. He hated the world for being so cruel. He hated whoever took his daughter away. He hated himself for yelling at Anne-Marie. He hated himself for not being there in her final hours. He hated himself for dragging Ashton with him, forcing him not see her either. He hated himself for giving this to his daughter in the first place. He hated himself for simply not being happy these past few months.

As Calum climbed the radio tower, all he could think about was what sucked. His parents died. His sister left. His daughter died. His husband said it might’ve been a good thing they never got together. His mother-in-law hated him for yelling at her. His son probably found out about how Joy got the cancer and hates him too.