All For Us || Oscar Diaz

49: Five Stages Of Grief

Friends by LAUNDRY DAY
Cause we got so caught up
And we kept having fun
And we kept growing up, and I'll say
You made me who I am

But we danced all night long
We'd dance all night long, my friend
Guess we ran out of songs
Boy I haven't seen you in a bit

But we gon' be alright

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Three times. Nina and Victoria had lost someone to death three times in their lifetime so far. They had been through the five stages of grief before. It would hit them different every time but nonetheless they knew what it felt like. With the passing of their parents, it had hit them differently in terms of time and mere closure with themselves and what happened.

First it was their father Arturo, whom they've lost to a shoot out following one of their sting operations. This first time around had impacted Victoria the most amongst the two of them as siblings. Given that Arturo was her father, of course they had a different connection in comparison to Nina. In that case it took her the longest to move on from his death out of the two of them.

Victoria had went through the stages quickly enough but the more she went through the stages the longer she seemed to be stuck in them. Denial and Anger were quick enough but when it came to Bargaining and the Depression stage it was as if time went still for her.

She had graduated a year earlier than Nina since she was a year older than her but went on a gap year afterwards to figure out what she actually wanted. This idea took a toll on her father since her father wasn't so keen on the idea.

After his death she had worked herself to the bone to with commissions and developing a portfolio until she had lost all drive and passed out. The depression stage was just dragging but what was worse was when she had gotten over everything and reached acceptance, she had that run in with the Prophet.

Their second loss was with Carmen, whom they've lost in a car accident. Now Nina had it worse since Carmen was her mother. And just like with Victoria and Arturo, they to had a special bond. Nina took awhile during her Denial stage as she focused on helping Victoria out with taking care of the twins. When that hit her, Anger also took awhile to get past. For that moment she was mad at the world that she had actually lost a chance with her future.

Her dreams at MIT went down the drain and even though she wanted to leave, like she said herself, there was always that moment of regret and anger. At one point she and Victoria had gotten into a huge fight as Nina blamed Victoria for all of this. Realizing her wrong and her commitment to her family, the two of them made up eventually.

Bargaining felt like an easy pass and Depression stage was just as dragging. Eventually she had made it into the acceptance stage. Nina and Victoria had promised each other to always stick together and have each other's backs since then.

Now things were a little different since they had lost Tony. Even though they were all going through their own sense of guilt, they could all see that it was only beginning to take a toll on Nina the most. Them as friends gathered around the dining table for their last cup of coffee and other drinks before they all left for New York the next day.

"I still feel like we should've invited Maya to this," Joel said before taking a sip of his hot chocolate. The satisfaction he got from his drink warmed him a little since it tasted the same as he remembered the way Nina made them.

"She's with Tony's parents," Leah reminded. "Plus, I feel like there are some things that we just have to talk about as friends," she added softly as her finger fiddled with the handle of her mug.