Wish You Were Here

Chapter 14-17

Chapter 14
    "Atticus..."
    I awoke to Sean standing over me, his hand on my shoulder.
    "Hey." I said, sitting up as he stepped back. I realized I was back in the ICU. Even though I had just woken up, I was exhausted.
    "Are you okay?"
    "Well, I'm not dead yet."
    "Yeah... I guess not."
    He looked glum, and I was suspicious. "What's wrong?"
    "Oh, nothing. Just Miles leaving, that's all. He was my best friend. "
    "Okay. I'm sorry."
    "It's okay. They could only do one thing to help right now. There were a lot of things they tried to do, but there were a lot of complications. Apparently, along with your tiny stomach, you have extra small arteries and an abnormally small heart too. There hoping for the donor to get here soon. For now they have to keep a really close eye on you."
    "Okay. That's basically what they told me before they did it."
    "I told them that if you needed a heart before the donor got here then I would be your donor."
    "Now Sean, don't do that to yourself-"
    "I'm about to do it anyway!" He suddenly yelled, tears forming in his eyes, the curtains billowing sideways.
    "What?"
    "Well, giving you my heart is a whole lot better than me killing myself, so just let me do it Atticus!"
    "No, your not going to do this. And your not going to kill yourself."        
    I reached for my phone before realizing it wasn't there. My blue bear, however, was. I grabbed it and held it to my chest.
    "What are you doing with that bear?"
    "Where's my phone?"
    He handed it to me, and I ignored the three unread emails.

120

There were more important things to do.

I dialed the number, 1-800-273-8255. Suicide prevention Hotline. I then threw the phone to Sean.

    "Your not going to kill yourself. You haven't gotten help. And now you will."
    He put the phone to his ear, and when he realized who I had called he looked at me with a look of clear, pure hatred that I had never seen before.
    "This is my life. Not yours."
    He dropped the phone on the ground, and I heard it crack, and then turned on his heel and fled the room.
    I watched as he went out the automatic ICU doors with my mouth agape. Then, as I muttered obscenities under my breath, I pressed the nurse button on the remote attached to the wall behind my head, and not even thirty seconds later there was  a girl in my room.
    "Yes?"
    "Could you please get my phone off of the floor?"
    She picked it up and handed it to me, looking annoyed.
    "Thank you."
    "Anything else?"
    "No, thank you."
    She turned and left the cubicle, and I went to my emails. There were three emails, once a week for three weeks;
    But none went through until today.
    It was all the same except for the pictures.
    From: Unknown
    There was a picture on screen, a picture of Miles in his uniform, surrounded by two others in similar clothing, inside of what looked like a bus or van.
This was the most recent.
    Wish you were here, Atticus,
    Sent at 3:00 PM
    There were three soldiers.

    From: unknown
    This picture was a sign, that said Welcome to Pontiac, Michigan through the windshield of an all-too familiar car, with two bullet holes in the glass. My hometown
    Sent at 2:00 PM.

    From: Unknown.
    This picture held two dark, beautifully skinned hands, with nails painted as red as roses, forming the shape of a heart over her stomach. There were eleven cuts on her stomach, that also formed hearts.
Sent at 11:00 AM.

I didn't know what was going on, but I was worried for Daisy's safety. I knew it was no use to try and reply to the email, so I turned off my phone and put it next to my leg. I typically would stash my phone under my left leg, but since that didn't exist anymore, I would have to settle for this.
Soon, Sean was going to kill himself. I didn't want him to do this, not to me, not to others and especially not to himself.
But I've learned at this point that I don't get everything I want, and that this world isn't fair.