The Sympathy Screw | 18+

Chapter 10 - Last Goodbye

"But if you're having so much trouble breathing, how come I never noticed?" I argued. He just couldn't be as bad off as he seemed right now. It didn't make any sense.

"I know you well, Violet. I have been asking you questions about things that I knew would keep you talking, or asking you to tell me stories. Once I got the shortest sentence I could come up with out, and you started talking, I would take my time to catch my breath while you talked."

"But you're fine!" I cried, a tear trickling down my cheek.

"Vi, Babe, look at me. I'm not fine. I'm dying. Today. And somehow Marie knew it."

I looked at Marie again, confused at how this seemingly simple accountant knew so much.

"Babe," Andrew continued, "Please, let's not do this over video call. I don't want you to see me right now like this and I don't want to see the pain it's causing you. Please."

I closed my eyes and swallowed deeply. "Really?" I asked him.

"Really, Violet. I don't want you to see me like this. I don't want you to remember me like this."

"Okay," I breathed, barely loud enough to hear.

"I love you so much," Andrew told me, "Call me on the phone as soon as we hang up."

"I love you, too, Andrew. More than you'll ever know," I whispered, more tears starting to flow.

"I'll talk to you in a few moments," he said, his fingers coming towards the camera so that he could push the end button on his phone. Andrew's end of the call went black with 'Call Ended' spread across my screen.

"Now you can tell her," Michael said, looking at Marie.

I didn't know what Michael was referring to, but I was starting to feel mad at both of them. They knew more than I did; even more than Andrew knew, somehow. And they were helping to keep it from me. I scowled at Marie.

"My best friend from high school died when we were close to your age," Marie told me, giving me a kind smile despite my scowl, "I won't go into the details because today's not about me at all, but it wasn't natural causes and I didn't have a lot of notice. Back then, we both had cell phones, but there weren't video calls. Sheryl made her final goodbye to me on her cell phone. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done, even more than saying goodbye to my dad, because I didn't see it coming. Andrew insisted to keep this from you and I urged him not to, but today's your last chance to say goodbye. He wanted you far away from him when it happened, but he wasn't going to keep you from your farewells. You'll feel a hundred times worse if you don't get that chance, Violet. He loves you and just wants to keep you from suffering any more than you have to. Now, I know you're mad at me, but you only have a few more minutes, and I know you'd rather spend them with Andrew while you can."

I nodded, sniffed away my remaining sob that was ready to heave, and clicked the call button to make a voice call with Andrew's phone go through.

Andrew picked up on the second ring. "Hi, Babe," he told me.

I could almost picture him at his full health before all of this started two months ago, except for the continuous beeping sound of the heart monitor in the background. He sounded so strong.

"Hi," I told him, smiling at the comfort his voice brought me.

"I missed you already, Babe," Andrew told me. I could just picture, and almost feel, his arms circling me and his hands rubbing soothing circles in my back.

"I missed you, too. Does it really have to be today?" I asked, begging him, and the universe, to just give me more time.

As if Marie could hear my thoughts, she gasped. I looked up to her and saw that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Michael gently patted her knee and she swatted his hand away.