BRIZO | 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

TWENTY-NINE (II)

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE - HELLO AGAIN, RICKY

It's kind of funny how everything can end in a matter of seconds, and you probably wouldn't even have time to understand what just happened.

We walk this Earth everyday, unaware of all the dangers surrounding us. We could die any moment, any time.

You could get run over while crossing the street, you could die from food intoxication, you could die from an allergic reaction, you could die in a fire, you could die because someone put a plant on the windowsill and it fell down on your head while you were walking by.

We never know when our last moments are going to be.

I think that's what is going through Pope's head, as he sees his life flash before his eyes when he notices the cross falling down on us from its place on the beams.

Luckily, we notice, and while Pope rolls on his side on the floor to get himself out of the way, we crawl and stumble back, watching wide eyed how the cross flies and lands right where Pope was not even ten seconds ago with a loud metallic thud.

I hear the gasps of the girls, on the opposite side of the room, clinging to the wall, trying to put as much space between and the cross as they can.

I feel my heart beating on my chest loudly, and my ears are ringing, while my mind tries to process what just happened. My eyes quickly find Pope lying on the filthy floor, bent over and holding his head protectively with his hands.

I'm the first one to run to check on him, grabbing his shoulder and making him lay on his back. "Pope, are you okay? Are you hurt?" I ask, with shaky hands grabbing his face trying to check for any injuries.

JJ and John B drop to their knees beside me, with apprehensive features, and they ask the same question I did, grabbing Pope and checking for any wounds, too.

Pope shakes his head, turning around again, as if he somehow felt safer curled as a ball. He has his eyes shut, and his hands are shaking nervously, "I'm good. Just give me... like... one second to... like... catch my breath." He struggles to speak.

I smile to smile, seeing that our friend is fine, and I pat his shoulder softly, before standing up again, with the rest of the group and we walk closer to the cross.

"You did it, Pope." JB says, looking proudly at the golden cross.

JJ wraps his hands around his, caressing it and looking at it as if it was the most precious thing he's ever seen, his eyes almost water when he says, "Pope, she's... she's beautiful."

I raise my eyebrows, with half a smile, feeling slightly amused about JJ's new found feeling about the cross. John B chuckles under his breath, before patting JJ on his back, and points at the cross.