Broken Lantern

Chapter Two

When we can breathe again, Kevin speaks first, asking if I want him to fix me a sandwich or something. He wipes his nose with the back of his sleeve and grabs a piece of his t-shirt hem to wipe the tears from his face, exposing the little trail of dark hair just below his belly button.

"Alice, I know how badly you're hurting, but you have to feed that baby, and more than a few bites of a pb and j. She needs something real, and so do you."

His words hit me in the heart, and I nod, agreeing to eat something.

"Awesome!" he exclaims, clapping his hands together and standing up. "I'm going to see what's in the kitchen." He walks off, leaving me to sit on the couch, wiping my own tears from my cheeks. My face burns from the salt and I can already feel the puffiness in my eyes.

A few minutes go by and Kevin pokes his head around the corner, "Hey, there's actually not much in here. You want me to order a pizza instead?"

I nod and start to tell him what I like, but he interrupts me before I can get it out. "Pepperoni, bacon and pineapple with stuffed crust, right?"

I look at him and raise an eyebrow, unsure of how he knows my pizza toppings. He just grins, saying, "I've heard you say it before." He shrugs and turns around, going back to the kitchen to call in the order.

A few minutes later, he comes back in and sits next to me on the couch. He doesn't say anything at first, but just puts his arm around my shoulders, letting me rest my head on him. It feels nice to be held, but I wish it was Darry sitting here with me.

"What's wrong with Joel?" I ask, wanting to break up the silence around us, and really wanting to know how he's doing.

Kevin's hesitant to talk about it at first. He doesn't answer me right away, so I turn to look up at him. He looks down at me, and I see the sadness in his once bright, cheerful eyes. He breaks eye contact and looks away, looking down at his knees, unsure whether he should tell me or not. "It's ok, Kevin, really. I want to hear it... all", I tell him, assuring him that I won't freak out.

"Alice, they were both thrown from the Jeep as it was flipping over. Matt and I had our seat belts on, but they didn't. Joel was thrown into a tree, breaking three of his ribs and fracturing his skull; he has swelling and bleeding on his brain. They have him in a medically induced coma, so he'll be comfortable. They're hoping that the swelling and bleeding will get under control, but right now they don't know what to expect, there could be brain damage. They just don't know very much right now." He begins to blink rapidly and turns his head up to the ceiling, and I know he's fighting back the tears again.

"Go on..." I tell him, wanting to hear this, but not wanting to at the same time.

"Alice? Are you sure?" he asks, looking down into my eyes. I can see the tears in his now and it breaks my heart.

I nod him on, bracing myself, because I know this next part is going to hurt like crazy.

He pulls me closer to him and begins to tell me how my husband died.

"Darry was thrown into the street. There was a truck coming in the other lane. He was thrown from the Jeep as it was beginning to roll." He takes a deep breath and I can feel his body shaking under me. "He slammed the truck so fast; the driver didn't even have time to hit the brakes." His tears are falling now, I can feel them sinking into my hair.

"The impact broke his back and both of his legs. The grill of the truck cut into his abdomen, damaging his liver badly." He's barely able to get the words out, but he pushes on for me. "His left arm was shattered, and his right wrist was fractured. There were head injuries too. They tried everything they could, they really did, Alice, but they couldn't save him. It was just too bad."

I feel his chest rising and falling quickly, and the tears are falling silently down my cheeks.

"Did he suffer?" I ask, bracing myself to hear the answer.

"They don't know. The doctors told his parents that they don't think he was able to feel anything after his back was broken, but they can't really know that." He tells me, honestly, "Matt said he was next to Darry when they picked him up, and it wasn't good."

He brings his other arm around and wraps me fully in his embrace, letting me cry into his chest, his head bent down, his chin resting on the top of my head.

The doorbell rings and Kevin shifts, wiping his face with his shirt again. He walks over to the door and opens it. Greg Howser is standing at the door in his Perry's Pizzeria delivery uniform, a depressingly sad look on his face. He tries to smile a half smile at us and hands the box to Kevin, saying, "It's on the house, dude. Perry wouldn't even think about charging her. He said to tell her that if she needs anything else, just let him know." Kevin nods and thanks him, telling him to thank Perry for us.

He turns around and asks where I want to eat. I point to the coffee table and he comes into the livingroom, sitting the box down in front of me. He grabs a tissue from one of the many tissue boxes around us and hands it to me. "I'm going to refill your glass and get me a drink and I'll be right back, ok?" I nod and he turns to leave.

I sit staring at the box, tracing the letters repeatedly with my eyes, trying hard not to concentrate on the devastating details of my best friend's death.

I feel numb... empty, really, like my heart has been ripped from my chest and thrown far away from me, never to be seen again.

Kevin comes back with our waters and sits down next to me. Just as my daddy comes through the front door.

"Hey kiddo. How are you feeling? I saw Greg's truck pulling down the drive, so you're ready to eat, huh?" he says, as he comes to sit on the other side of me. He pulls me into him and kisses the top of my head. "I love you, baby girl." I can't even cry anymore. I'm just give out. I hug my daddy tighter and tell him, "I love you too, Daddy."