Carmen Pravol was sitting on the couch.
He didn't know where his adoptive parents were, and they hadn't told him.
They had been so secretive lately.
They were more like grandparents to him than parents, as they were a bit too old to have been taking in a child all those years ago.
But they had done it anyways.
Carmen lifted himself off of the couch and left to the kitchen for a glass of water and a snack.
There were papers on the counter.
He shouldn't have peeked.
But curiosity ate away at him, and he read the papers.
He dropped them on the floor with numb hands.
___
Carmen was locked in his room for two days.
He didn't sleep, nor eat, and he drank tap water from the bathroom sink.
He ignored his adoptive parents when they asked him what was wrong.
And he curled up in a fetal position and tried to deny reality for what it was.
He couldn't accept it.
He couldn't accept that his adoptive mother had cancer.
And she was never going to tell him.
___
"Were you ever gonna tell me?"
Tears welled up in Enita's eyes and she sat down her knitting. "Come here, Carmen." She sighed.
Carmen felt the tears come to his eyes as well as Enita embraced him.
He had always loved her hugs. She gave the best hugs. But at that moment, all he wanted was for her to push him away and laugh.
He wanted her to tell him it was all just a joke.
That he wasn't going to lose his second mother.
That he wasn't going to have to watch another person he cared about suffer.
Enita soothingly stroked Carmen's hair as his chest shook with sobs. "I'll be alright in the end, Dear, you know I will."
"You won't though!" Carmen hugged her tighter. "You'll be hurting! You...you probably already are. I can't watch you die slowly like Mom did, I can't!"
Enita began to cry. "Dear, no. I won't do that. I can make it through this. I'm okay, Carmen."
"Ḙ̶͓̺̪̬͈̓ň̶͝ͅi̸͎̯̘̥͗͊̈́̈́̅̈̌̑̌̚t̷̼̫͍̻͖̹̫͗̓̃̓͝a̵̢͔̲͙͕̩͍͉̝̓͛͛̌́͘̚̕.̷̨̨͙͚͖̝̬̙͇̝̆.̷̨̘͈̖̹̬̉̍̀̉̊.̵̞͍̣̣̉͋"
"Friedrich, come in here, please!" Enita called.
Carmen's eyes began to dilate.
Suddenly, it all seemed so simple.
Still hugging Enita, one of Carmen's hands began to reach towards the side table...
...the side table that held a bejeweled, decorative k̸̢͍͓̾̚̕n̶͎̋͌ĭ̸̘̮̆f̶̨̙͉̕ë̶̞̟̭͛̓.
Something in h̸̟̪̱͍̯̿ǐ̶̡̛̝͋̈́̐͐ş̴͖̜̞̽͌ ̶͍͙͕̳̖͓͈̒̌̐ẹ̸̦͒͒͐̎y̷̹͈̲̱͔̟͓̌̑̊̆́̒̄͜ě̷̡̝͔̫͈̔ș̴̻͎̳̔̊͑̔̂͘͘͝ seemed to set Enita off. She stood up from the couch and unhooked Carmen from her.
YOU ARE READING
"Application"
Mystery / ThrillerYan!Various X Fem!Reader ___ You downloaded the friend group centric "dating" app, Find Your Flock, because you were bored and lonely. Not because you wanted a harem of lovesick stalkers. ___ (endings are being rewritten)
