Why did you-? (Tree Bros)

1

My mom's mouth drops and she brings her hand to her face. "He overdosed? On what?"

"Th-the bottle looked like, like anti-depressants? I could be wrong though."

"He tried to-" I cut her off.

"C-can we stop t-talking about this right now? Please? Uh, s-sorry."

"Oh. Oh, yeah. Of course honey."

"Th-thanks."

A hurried family stumbles through the door.

"We're Connor Murphy's family, where is he? Can I-we see him? Is he okay?" the woman-Connor's mother, I assume-rushes out to the receptionist.

"He's in the ER being treated. The doctor will be out eventually to give you details," the receptionist replies in monotone.

"How'd he get here?" the man-Connor's dad I'm assuming again-asks.

"A boy called and rode with him over here. He's the boy with the cast over there," the receptionist points at me and I force my head down to my lap so the family doesn't know I was listening in on the conversation. I hear shuffling and people sit down next to me and my mom.

"Excuse me?" Connor's mom asks. I look up to see her looking at me with red, puffy eyes and a sad smile.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You were the one who called about Connor Murphy right? That's what the receptionist said."

"Y-yeah. That's me...th-the kid that rode with y-your kid to the hospital. S-sorry, that probably sound really weird. I didn't really mean that. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Thank you for...helping. Were you two friends?"

"Y-yeah...I guess you c-could say that."

She turns to Connor's dad."Look Larry, they were friends," she directs her attention back to me. "That's nice. I'm so sorry that you had to see him go through this," she says while resting her hand against my arm and doing that rubbing thing that's supposed to be comforting but if it's done by anyone except your mom it gets awkward. I offer her an awkward smile in return to distract her from my suddenly tense shoulders.

I feel eyes on me and glance over the woman's shoulders. Zoe Murphy. Of course Zoe would be with them, she's Connor's sister. She tears her eyes away and looks around the room. I wonder if she's contemplating the home decor like I was earlier. I draw my attention back to Connor's mom. "I-uh, th-thanks."

Suddenly, Connor's dad-who's name I now know is Larry-looks at me skeptically. He looks like his trying to inspect me. I grow self conscious and start messing with my sitting position and the way I'm holding myself. His eyes direct themselves up to my own and I look anywhere but his eyes. I don't do well with eye contact. "How do you know Connor?"

"Oh, we-we have, uh, we have some classes together," I stammer out.

"Oh, nice," his eyes drift to my mom. "I'm guessing you're this young man's mother?"

"Yes that's me. I'm Heidi Hansen," she holds out her hand for a handshake which Larry takes and gives a firm shake. "I'm Larry and this is my wife Cynthia and our daughter Zoe."

"Nice to meet you guys," she glances at her watch. "Oh shi-shoot, I have to get back to work. I'm so sorry, it was nice meeting you."

"The same goes for us," Larry answers. My mom runs back to where she came and I'm left alone with these strangers.

Zoe gets up and moves to where my mom was sitting. "How is a guy like you friends with a guy like my brother?"

"Zoe! Don't be rude," Cynthia scolds.

"It's just a simple question!"

"W-we have s-similar interests?"

"Like what?"

"W-we both have a p-passion for...for writing! Y-yeah we both love writing."

"Really? I thought he was more into art," Zoe says.

"H-he is! He just, also likes writing."

Before Cynthia can intervene between Zoe and I's interrogation, a doctor walks out.

"The family of Conner Murphy?"