Knock On Wood (BoyxBoy)

chapter fifty-nine. kevin.

TW FOR DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND TALK ABOUT DEATH

I would never have imagined that I would be there to see Edd die.

I was just sitting next to him, telling him how much progress his parents are making in Barundi and how they'll be able to see him in less than a week, and then, suddenly, I hear a monotone continuous beeping, and Edd's chest stops heaving.

I don't think anyone can understand the fear and pain that waves over someone when the person they love flatlines, because it's unimaginable.

I stand up from the chair I'm in and immediately panic. I run out of the room and into the hallway, searching desperately for someone--a nurse, a doctor, anyone.

"Help!" I scream. "W-We need help!"

I only stay out there for a few seconds before I run back into the room and look around for something to help. Then, I see it--a huge red button on the wall next to Edd's bed. I hit it a few times as fast as I can and within seconds a doctor comes running in with three nurses next to him.

They immediately start performing CPR on him, covering his nose and mouth with a pump after each set of hits against his chest.

"What's happening?" I shout as I try to get back alongside the gurney. The nurses are now trying to restart his heart with a defibrillator.

"Talk to me!" I demand until finally a nurse turns to me and tells me, "Listen, sir, you need to let us do our job. We will help him, but you need to go to the lobby and wait for us. Okay? Can you do that for us? For Eddward?"

I hesitate to stop bugging them, but I eventually nod and do so.

"In fact, I think it would be better for everyone if you just left for right now," she says calmly.

"I'm not leaving!" I shout, my voice cracking.

"Sir, please, we need to focus on saving him," the nurse pleads as the doctor calls her name. "Please trust us."

I glace at Edd and leave the room.

It's times like these where I wish I could help, you know? Hold Edd's hand and remind him how much I love and support him. But it's times like these where I also feel like running. I want to distract myself from the fact that I feel like shit and I'm worried and I want to cry.

I contemplate texting Nat. I also contemplate texting--no, calling Lennard. But, I can't really find my voice right now. I think it's hidden somewhere behind my burning throat, and I'm not about to force myself to speak.

ו×

I end up just walking around the hospital. I go through hallways, peeking in through doors and looking at nametags until I find myself outside the room of a girl called Eliza Shumaker.

In the back of my mind, I think I've started coming here too much this week. But that doesn't stop me from knocking on her door. The first knock is soft and hesitant, but by the third, I've lost all intentions of being quiet.

Eliza takes three minutes to come to the door.

"Kid?" She asks. "It's like ten o'clock at night, why are you here?"

"Uhm, can... Can I come in?"

She looks at me for a second, confused, before letting me in.

"Want one?" She asks, getting a pack of cigarettes from her bedside table.

"Uh, no. Thanks."

"Okay, then," she says, lighting her own cigarette. "What's up?"

"Can you tell me about your boyfriend? What was he like before he hurt you?"