Chapter
9
The hospital waiting room was quiet. Nobody moved, they barely
breathed. All they could do was sit there and think. Why did this have to
happen to Brian? He hadn’t hurt anybody. All he was guilty of was being
different. And he had just had the courage to come forth and tell people. That
would teach him twice to be so open.
That was if he survived this.
But Brian would survive. He had to. He couldn’t die and leave them
all alone, leave them hoping that he could be with them just one more day.
And most of he couldn’t die without patching things up with Nick.
He couldn’t die and have Nick still hate him. Things couldn’t end that way. It
wouldn’t be right.
The three men hated their own thoughts but were too unsure of
their own voices to speak to each other and confirm their own fears. But they
couldn’t sit in the silence forever. Finally Howie was able to speak.
“Where do you think Nick went?”
Kevin snorted angrily. “Who cares.” He growled. “That little fool
was too stubborn to realize that Brian was still his friend no matter what. He
doesn’t deserve to have our thoughts and concerns!”
AJ sighed. He was mad at Nick too, but he also thought Nick had a
reason for disappearing. Something that he had said or something that had
happened pushed him one way or the other. He either hated Brian even more or he
was starting to open his eyes. But something wasn’t right with him before that
gunshot had gone off. Something was changing in him. AJ had heard it in his
voice. But he didn’t have the strength to call him and find out what exactly
Nick was thinking.
“What if what me and Howie said changed his mind?” AJ asked. “What
if he ran because he was to shocked to stay and see what had happened?”
“Why would he have run?!” Kevin’s voice began to raise. “If he had
cared he would have stuck around to find out what happened to his best
friend. Instead he disappears and we don’t hear anything from him! He probably
ran back to his room and cursed that he didn’t think of pulling the gun first!”
“Kevin!” Howie gasped in shock. “You can’t say that. Nick may have
hurt Brian emotionally, but he would never hurt him physically. We all know
that.”
“NOBODY KNOWS THAT!!” Kevin screamed jumping up.
“Mr. Littrell?” Came a quiet voice from the door.
The three of them turned around to see a female doctor standing
sheepishly in the doorway. Kevin ran up to her and grabbed her by the
shoulders.
“How’s my cousin?” He asked quickly. “Can we go see him now? Is he
going to be okay?”
“Please sir, sit down.” She pointed to the empty chair behind him.
“Let me explain things.” She waited until Kevin had taken his seat to continue.
“Mr. Littrell was in poor shape when he was brought in. He had lots of internal
bleeding and was beaten very badly. He also had a bullet wound to the chest
taken at point blank range. It passed through his entire body.”
“S-so is he okay?” AJ asked quietly.
The doctor looked at him with sad blue eyes. AJ was shocked how
much they reminded him of Brian’s eyes the night he told them. The night his
world had gone spinning out of control.
“He was very weak when he was brought into surgery, but immediate
operation was his only chance at any survival.” She told them. “I’m afraid we
lost Brian on the operating table.”
Kevin dropped to his knees and began sobbing. It was scary to see
the father figure crumble like that. But Howie and AJ were soon right behind
him. Tears ran down their pale cheeks as they blamed everything they could
think of. But nothing helped and nothing would bring Brian back. He was gone
forever because some people couldn’t accept the fact that he was different.
***
