Pure Poison

Chapter Forty-One

Patrick stayed lying on the ground with his hand dangling off the floor. The tip of his fingers tingled with the last touch of Neo. He could not remove his eyes from Neo's lifeless body resting against the broken, damaged table. His mind was silent, his soul was screaming. Unknowing Patrick, the doctor lay next to him dead, bleeding from more than one bullet wound.

Arc and James looked at one another before walking towards Patrick to pull him up. Patrick could never imagine that love could feel like this. That it could tear through your chest, leaving him hollow and shattered in its wake. There is this deafening silence now, echoing in the pit of his stomach as if the world has stopped spinning altogether. But it has not stopped, has it? It keeps turning, indifferent to the agony that is consuming him. Patrick could still see Neo, falling. The image is etched into his mind like a cruel, twisted painting. Neo's laughter, smile, his essence... all swallowed by the void in an instant. It is as if time slowed down just to make sure Patrick saw every detail, every heart-wrenching moment of Neo's descent.

How do you make sense of something like this? How do you reconcile the fact that the person he loves is gone in the blink of an eye? It is like standing at the edge of a precipice, staring into an abyss of questions with no answers. And all he could do was scream into the void, hoping for a shred of solace to reach him. Parick kept replaying their moments together in his mind, searching for some semblance of closure, but it is all slipping through his fingers like sand. Was there something he could have said, something he could have done to change the course of fate? Or was this tragedy written in the stars, an inevitable conclusion to their story?

They were his everything, his reason to wake up in the morning, his light in the darkness. And now... now they are just a memory, a ghost haunting the corners of his shattered heart. Patrick could not figure out how to go on without them. Patrick could not face a world that felt so empty and meaningless without Neo's presence. Patrick knew there was no true answer; all he had was the suffocating pain that threatened to consume him whole.

Arc and James could hear the ambulance and fire department sirens getting closer. Arc knew his family would be arriving afterward. They quickly dragged Patrick down the stairs and rested him against the nearest wall while they both ran to the EMTs and toward Neo. While they did not know much, they knew enough to help if needed.

Patrick was in shock, his mind replaying the last few minutes of his life trying to figure out if he was the one that ruined everything. He could not comprehend what was happening. The EMT rushed to Neo's side and began to evaluate the scene. They gasped in horror as the boy's body was covered in splinters and glass shards. They placed a neck brace on Neo, an oxygen mask, and got him onto the board and into the ambulance. The EMT said they were going to the hospital on 5th Street, and everyone could follow them. Arc and James told the ambulance they would be right behind them.

Arc hugged James tightly before he heard his mother holler for him. He let James go before he walked over to his mother and hugged her tightly. He tried his hardest not to fall apart, but seeing Neo's lifeless body being dragged away, Patrick staring into the abyss, and himself being hurt from the fight, tears began to fall onto his mother's shoulder. She tightly hugged back before looking at James. His father and a few people that he brought observed the environment. Andrew, Daniel, and the others walked down the stairs confused.

James rubbed his face as his body was still running on adrenaline, "The doctor is dead."

Arc's father turned his head toward James, "What happened, son."

"We came here to celebrate Andrew's birthday and Neo was our server. Neo told us that he could not serve us due to the doctor and I was confused as to why. We all went into the hall, and a confrontation occurred. The doctor threatened Neo and he brought up a tough subject for all three of us and placed Neo in the middle. A fight ensued because Neo spoke back..."