Black Roses {Skephalo}

Day Eighteen

————— 6 days remaining —————
Thursday, January 18th, 0:00 am

~~~

-Darryl's POV-

The second the clock strikes midnight, I'm wide awake. It takes me a second to wonder how I woke up perfectly at the start of the next day, or even why.

Then I see it.

There's blood running down my hand. It's  flowing in a steady stream, a few droplets trickling down my fingertips and staining the bedsheets.

Through my half-asleep haze, I don't think to see where the blood is coming from. I presume it's me, but I can't understand why. A loud cough echoes through the hospital room, leading me to believe it may not be me after all.

A weight is lifted from my chest, followed by clumsy footsteps on the tiled floor. My eyes fully drift open, and I brush the sleep from them. Now able to fully take in the scene, I look around. A tuft of raven hair is visible from the other side of the room, the owner sat on the floor.

Zak.

I scramble out of bed, bracing a hand against the wall. After allowing myself a few seconds to steady myself, I push off the wall in the direction of Zak. He's on his knees, one hand gripping the edge of the bed with white knuckles.

There's a steady stream of blood coming from his left arm. He must've ripped out the life support. Good thing he didn't need that.

His arm however, isn't the main cause of the blood. Zak coughs loudly, spraying blood across the white tiles. A couple black spots appear, dotted in blood. They're quite a bit larger than the blood spots, a recognisable shape.

Flower petals.

Black flower petals.

My eyes widen in fear. It's hanahaki disease again, there's no way it isn't. The blood, the black petals...

Does Zak love someone else?!

The younger boy brings a hand up to his face, stifling a sob. He coughs, blood pouring through the gaps in his fingers. His other hand rests over his heart, gripping my hoodie that he's wearing tightly. The chest pains must be back.

I push my earlier thoughts aside, focusing on the boy in front of me. "Zak!" I grab his shoulders, shaking him gently after he doesn't answer. "Zak hello?" He ignores me completely, as if I'm not there.

I pull the hand away from his chest, knowing it'll only hurt worse. Zak grips my hand, interlocking his trembling fingers with mine. His whole body shakes, shocked at what's happening.

Then it stops.

The clock turns to 5 past midnight, and it stops. As suddenly as it came on, it disappears.

Zak's eyelids grow heavy, shutting instantly as he falls forward. My arms slide under his, catching him as he collapses.

I take a deep breath, allowing my heart to slow back to a regular rhythm. My breathing hitches on most attempts, causing me to cough. Thankfully, there's no blood or petals when I do.

Those petals...

I rest the unconscious boy's head against my chest. His breathing is soft, regular. As if nothing happened. It's like he's still asleep. I hold him tightly, picking up one of the bloody petals on the floor.

The blood coats the petal almost entirely, running down my hands as I hold it. The petal is clearly black, resembling the shape of my petals when I had hanahaki. Rose petals. Black rose petals. So that's what Zak choked up.