MATCHBOX WAR || LAFAYETTE

{quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit}

"Where is my nephew!" Ellis barged into the hospital, obviously panicked. The doctor was quick to meet her at the door. "Mrs. de Lafayette, come in. Mr. Hamilton told me to expect your arrival. They brought Philip in just over a half an hour ago. He lost a lot of blood on the way over." Ellis felt a scream trying to break through. She swallowed it down instead. Screaming wouldn't help Philip. "Is he alive, doctor? Can I please see him?" The doctor nodded grimly before leading her to his room. She caressed her heavily pregnant belly and her baby kicked. She knew that she was to be due any day now.

"The bullet entered just above his hip," the doctor explained to her in a calm manner. Ellis bit her lip anxiously. She was anything except calm. She blamed her hormones. "It's lodged in his right arm. The wound was already infected when he arrived." The doctor led her through several doors. The hospital wasn't very large, yet it had many rooms. Ellis entered Philip's behind the doctor and immediately rushed to Alexander's side. She kneeled down across from him and ran her fingers through Philip's hair, calming him a bit. The memory of how she would always play with his hair when he was younger came rushing back. Those were the better days.

"Philip!" she half screamed at the sight of him. Her nephew grimaced, " Hey, Aunt Ellis." He tried to make light of the situation, he tried to play it as not as bad as it seemed. Ellis knew better. "I told you to be careful! Not get yourself killed! I said don't go in blindly!" This brought back memories of when John had dueled against Charles Lee. She had been informed of the event through a letter. It wasn't even from John himself. Ellis almost got onto the next boat for the Colonies just to slap him. It seemed to have been a lifetime ago. "I was as careful as I could've been, auntie."

She saw Eliza burst into the room. "Is he breathing? Is he going to survive this?" She screamed out questions as she ran as fast as she could in her dress. She took her place beside Alexander. "Who did this, Alexander, Ellis, did you know?" Philip interrupted his mother. "Mom, I'm so sorry for forgetting what you taught me." Eliza sobbed, "My son." Philip kept talking, "We played piano, you would put your hands on mine." It was Ellis' turn to sob aloud. She kept playing with Philip's hair.

"You changed the melody every time," Ellis recalled. She grasped Eliza's hand that was grasping Philip's. Both their hands grasped Philip's hand, he was growing cold. "I would always change the line," Philip was crying now too, choking on his tears. Alexander laid an arm over Eliza, trying to provide comfort. Ellis tried to stand but felt a liquid trickle down her legs. Oh no, She thought. Not now.

"Sept, huit," Eliza trailed off, Philip's body going cold and limp. He was dead and they all wished him alive. Eliza let out an ear-piercing scream, but Ellis didn't hear it. Alexander frantically called for the doctor when Ellis fell to her side, immobile. She felt numb, she couldn't feel anything. It scared her. The only thing that grasped her from her paralysis was Lafayette's sudden appearance. He must've just gotten in from France.

The last thing she heard before she returned to her numb state was, "This baby is coming out now."

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three chapters left