FORTIFIED

Chapter Nineteen.

Alex had been called a lot of names in his twenty-four years of living but none of those words had done the damages her words had.

Adriel refused to see him, refused to talk to him, and had wanted to leave the apartment on more than one occasion. He had Mercy to thank though, she'd convinced Adriel to stay on the condition that she'd stay with her as well.

Mercy currently shared the room with Adriel.

Mercy had come to comfort him on a number of occasions and each time she saw him, he seemed to sink deeper into the pit Adriel had unknowingly sentenced him to.

Alex grew leaner as the days passed and Mercy grew worried, he'd stopped eating altogether too consumed by his guilt and self-hatred to have a stable appetite. For the past week, she'd been staying with Adriel helping her recover. In the meantime, Mercy had requested that everyone else give them some space to sort things out.

Cara had agreed.

One evening after caring for Adriel, she'd gone to the adjoining room but stopped halfway through the door when she saw him.

Alex was talking to someone, but no one was in the room with him. His back was still to her. His hair was still as bright as fire but his shoulders were starting to stick out as his shirt kept slipping off of them.

She felt another painful pang in her chest seeing his defeated form.

"I don't think I can do this anymore." She heard him whisper.

There was a pause.

"She doesn't even want to see me." She heard him exhale, listening to what his invisible companion was saying.

"Okay, I'll wait." He said tiredly. He put his Bible down and stood up, he went to the small drawer by his bed and brought out a book, it looked like a journal. He pulled out a card stock paper from between the pages and she could see the turmoil he felt as he held the letter. She could see the tears gathering in the corner of his eyes when he saw the words written on it. The cover read:

'To my best friend, Alex.'

Her eyes widened.

Mercy immediately knew who the letter was from.

"Luke." She whispered.

She knew because she'd been given an identical one just like it, two in fact. He'd written one to her and another one to Adriel.

Mercy gasped realizing that she hadn't had the chance to give Adriel hers yet or rather she'd been so overwhelmed with grief from reading her own letter that giving Adriel hers had completely skipped her mind.

She knocked twice and opened the door for the rest of the way.

Luke had written the letters a week prior to his death and they'd only been sent a month later to them by Cara.

Mercy remembered that day like it was yesterday.

The memory brought fresh tears to her eyes as she opened the door.

Alex's blue eyes widened seeing her.

"Mercy, how is she?" He quickly asked.

The letter was in his left hand.

"She's doing much better." She saw his features sag in relief.

It was obvious he cared a great deal for her but she knew Adriel wouldn't believe it even if she told her.

"I'll be going home today but I'll be back by evening. There's something I need to go get." She said. Her eyes flickered briefly to the letter again. Maybe, just maybe something in that letter could save them both.