AllFreeNovel
Share Us
22
~K~
It'sas if a tornado descended upon my family, leaving pieces broken and scattered in its wake. My mother's a mess, Jane's beside herself, and my father is apologetic and broken.
Lynne and Bella send their regards, causing more strife since they couldn't even come out here for their own brother.
We sit around Ethan's bed, the steady beeps of machinery the only music to comfort us. My mother weeps silently as she clutches Ethan's hand. Jane and I huddle together to offer Mom support while our dad silently watches from the corner.
It's our second day here and things don't look any better. Ethan's condition hasn't changed and the doctors don't know if he'll wake up in a few days or a few months. There's a slight chance he may never wake up.
He'd injected twice the amount of heroin he used to take, and his body went into shock as he convulsed on the floor. The nurse heard the commotion in his room and rushed in, immediately calling for emergency services. There was staff on site trained to deal with emergencies and unexpected complications, and while the ambulance made its way there, the on-site doctors tried to revive Ethan.
Nothing worked, not even the Narcan used before. As Ethan slipped deeper and deeper into a coma, a slight pulse, faint but there, kept hope going.
All we can do now is wait. The doctors have done everything they can. They don't know if he lost oxygen or if he'll have any sort of brain or heart damage when he wakes.
We can only pray.
My shoulders slump. Guilt weighs heavily on me.
I should've been there for him more. I should've helped him sooner. I'm a trained psychologist for fuck's sake and I failed my brother. My own brother. My best friend growing up.
If only I'd forced him into treatment instead of letting him slip through my fingers...
The tears spill over as I squeeze Jane's hand, her own tears sliding down her cheeks.
I cry for Ethan, for my mom, for Jane.
I weep for failing as a therapist and for failing my own brother.
On top of it all, I grieve for Emma. I grieve for all that's happened and for all that could've been.
~E~
The next fewdays pass in a blur. I give statements, I help police identify the bodies, and I block everything else out.
I'm numb.
Numb to Connie's death.
Numb to my own pregnancy.
Numb to the fact that I never got a real chance with Knox.
Sarah stays with me, never letting me leave her sight.
It was one of the hardest ordeals I've ever had to go through.
The police think Connie killed herself and Dan turned the gun on himself. Investigation is under way to figure out what happened. There’s speculation Dan may have killed Connie, or Connie killed Dan.
What it boils down to is two people are dead.
One I was invested in, one I spent countless hours with helping her move past her depression.
And now, she's gone. My heart breaks as I think of what she must've been thinking, feeling. Did he try to talk her out of it? Or did he push her into it?
If only, she'd called me. Reached out to me. She knew I was a phone call away, always on standby for her.
