Saved (Adopted by Brendon Urie)

Chapter 28

Abby was miserable for the rest of the weekend. in and let her process, but he wasn't going to tolerate the attitude for long.

Monday morning, Abby was downstairs and ready for school on time without Brendon needing to wake her up.

"Good morning," he said to her.

"Morning," she said miserably.

"Abby, I know you're hurting. I know you're sad. But your attitude needs to change. I gave you the weekend to be as miserable as you want, but you need to start checking your behaviour. I'm not saying you can't be sad or angry about Bruno, but you have to stop taking it out on me and I hope you aren't going to take it out on your friends."

"I'm okay. Sorry about the weekend. But I'm still pissed. At Bruno. Not you. Sorry, Dad."

She seemed remorseful for her behaviour. Just then she burst into tears. Brendon went to her and wrapped her in his arms.

"I'm so sorry, Abby. I'm sorry your friends are gone."

"Why did Bruno kill himself? We were going to come take him for lunch. I was going to keep visiting to make sure he was okay. Why did he do it?"

Brendon wanted to tell Abby what could drive a person to suicide. He'd been there. He knew what it felt like. He knew what it felt like when the love of your life leaves you and you can't ever get them back. He knew what the pain in your heart felt like. He knew how empty Bruno must have been feeling after Alex died. He knew that despite the note apologizing to Abby, he didn't think about how his death would affect Abby. Because he'd been stuck in a spiral of pain and heartache that felt like it would never end. That would never go away. And Bruno hadn't found his Abby. He hadn't had time to find someone to fill that void left by Alex.

Brendon contemplated letting Abby stay home and talking with her about Bruno's death and Alex's, and maybe even her role in saving his life. He offered her the chance to stay home, but she decided she wanted to be at school with her friends. So, he drove her to school, gave her a kiss and told her to call or text if she needed anything or needed or wanted to come home.

She went into the school and waved goodbye. She didn't smile and he didn't expect her to. But she seemed happy enough to be at school.

Brendon drove out of the school driveway and down to that same medical building he'd thought he was done with. But he wanted to talk to his therapist about how to help Abby process her grief. And see if maybe she'd take Abby on as a patient. Or refer her to someone.

"Good morning, Brendon," the therapist smiled. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon. What's going on?"

"As much as I'm here for me, I'm also here for my daughter," he said.

"How's Abby doing?" She asked.

"Honestly, not great. She lost two close friends very close together," Brendon said. He related the story of who Alex and Bruno were to Abby and the very different ways they died. He also told her that it had turned out that Alex was Abby's birth father.

"That's - what a small world," the therapist said. Brendon agreed.

"These two men cared for and about Abby. Abby was devastated when she found out who Alex was to her. And then this weekend, we went to visit Bruno as we'd planned. And found his body."

"Who found it? Did Abby see it?"

"I don't think so. I grabbed her as soon as I saw him hanging. She tried to see past me but I tried to hold her close enough and get her away from the door."

"I see. So you found the body," she asked. "How did you react? How did you feel?  Have you processed what happened?"

"My first instinct was to shield Abby from seeing his body. I guess shock was what I felt. And I don't know if I have processed it. I've been so focussed on Abby. Bruno didn't mean to me what he did to her. But he was, probably, the only stranger in LA I would trust with Abby."

"Fair. And completely normal reactions. I'm impressed and happy to hear that your first instinct was to protect Abby. That's important. Finding Bruno's body would have been traumatic in any case. So, what's going on with Abby?"

"She's just so miserable. All weekend she was in her room and would be really snarky and rude to me when she did come out. She apologized this morning, and I know she's hurting. I told her she doesn't have to stop being angry or sad, but that her attitude needed to change. That she had to stop taking her grief or anger out on me."

"How did she react to that?"

"She apologized and then burst into tears. She's mad at Bruno for how he died. And I get that. But I don't know how to help her process her loss. It's not like I processed Sarah's so well," Brendon said sheepishly.

"No, and everyone processes loss differently. The best thing you can do for Abby is listen. Let her grieve, let her know you're there for her. And if you need, you can make her an appointment with me."

Brendon and the doctor spoke a little longer. Brendon was able to come to terms with how to help Abby process her loss, and knew the doctor would take her in as a patient if she needed.

Since he still had some time before he had to get Abby from school, Brendon went home, into his studio and started playing some music.

He was back, he smiled to himself. Thanks to Abby, he was back. He owed her his life. And he was going to make sure his daughter never wanted for anything. That she always knew she was loved.