The Radiants Chronicons : Vol. I & II Of The Radiants Duology Series

Radiant (Vol I) - Chapter Thirty two

Chapter 32

I rushed out of the van, as swiftly as my legs could carry me, and headed to our makeshift hospital. I needed to see it with my two eyes. I couldn't let myself believe she was dead. She had to be alive. I had seen her for a couple of times this past week and she seemed fine. Could she have succumbed to her health challenge or was it something more?

I pushed open the door and turned my head to Oge. "Where is she?"

Oge held her arms tightly, as tears slowly rolled down her face. She sniffed. "Check the body bag."

That could have been enough to know that she was already dead. Oge's uncontrollable  tears and the mention of a body bag, but I needed to see it for myself. I needed to see her one last time and say my goodbye.

I unzipped the body bag that was placed on a faraway table and Taye's still body laid in view. Her skin was pale and her eyes were already shut. Her face remained expressionless and I wished I could see her bright smile one more time. I had forced myself not to cry, when I heard about this terrible news in the van, but now, I couldn't control my emotions anymore, as I stared at the dead body lying in front of me.

I bent my head over and sobbed softly, against her lifeless frame. This wasn't fair. How could a thirteen year old leave this world and only experience pain throughout? She deserved so much better. Her personality was uplifting and she was a ray of sunshine to everyone around her. But now, she was gone and there was nothing anyone of us could do about it.

I turned my head to where Oge curled herself to, and inquired. "How did she die?"

Oge's voice shook, as she responded. "Taye hid the fact that her leg injury wasn't healed yet. I shouldn't have believed her. I should have probed her and helped her with the damn injury. Instead, she had , which led to a heart attack. The thirteen year old died from a heart attack and it's so painful to believe."

"Why would she hide her injury? That's insane. She knows she has slow tissue regeneration. Why would she put herself through that?"

"Because she's sick of being treated like a feeble twat." My gaze caught Kenny walking through the room as she spoke in a monotone voice. Her eyes were puffy and red, probably from hours of crying. The once vibrant young girl I knew, was gone, and all I saw now was a distraught grieving young woman.

Oge frowned. "Taye was never feeble. She was strong."

"I know she was, but that was also the problem. She was tired of being babied. She always told me that and I should have listened to her. Maybe she wanted to feel how it was like, to experience what everyone experienced. I'm sure she had no idea it would kill her at the end, that's what hurts the most."

I questioned. "How does a lead to a heart attack? How is it remotely possible?"

Oge wiped a tear from her eye and replied. "The body's always connected. Never forget that. "

Kenny clutched her chest tightly and sobbed. "I can't believe she endured all that amount of pain. Even in death. My poor sister". She walked out of the room in anguish, but I could hear her soft sobs from outside.

I lowered my head and looked back at the body bag in front of me and muttered quietly. "I'm so sorry you had to die like this. If I knew you hadn't fully healed from your leg sprain, I wouldn't have let you learn how to shoot. I can't imagine how much strain you put on your leg by standing. I feel responsible for this, no matter how hard I tried."

Oge scoffed. "How can you feel responsible for this, when it's my job to take care of her health? I shouldn't have let her go, when she told me that her leg was better. I should have done a complete physical examination, but I had too many patients that day and I let her go. If I did things the right way, none of this would have happened."

"I guess I—"

Kenny entered the room again. She dried her eyes at the back of her hand and steely gaze on us, was unsettling. "Even if it didn't happen now, it was bound to happen some other time. We were too overprotective of her and she wanted to experience a twinge of normalcy. Too bad, it backfired on her. Nothing can change what happen. She made her choice. She's my twin and seeing her die broke a little in me."

"It happened in front of you?"

Her eyes turned glassy. "I was still rolling in bed, when I heard a loud yelp. Taye was wriggling on her bed for a few seconds and just made a loud cough and stopped moving instantly. She was gone and I couldn't help her."

"You can't blame yourself for that. You were only doing what was best for her. She always knew that."

Kenny lowered her head and made a strained noise. Her head raised back up and locked her gazes with our concern ones. "I'm going to cremate her body and we'll have a farewell ceremony at the hall tomorrow. Wear black."

We watched her make her way out of the room and stood in complete silence.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?"

"Do you think either one of us is going to be okay? Taye was a part of us. Everyone knew her."

"This is my first funeral I'd be going to. Even when I lost my grandfather as a little girl, I never went for the funeral."

"I've had a couple of that, in the months I've been here so I've had my fair share here. My only concern is how the Clandestine is reacting to this. Another death for our district, once again. They're scared. Worried about their health and safety. I'm going to get blamed for this and it's going to blow up in my face."

"This wasn't your fault. It was the way Taye wanted it. You have to know that."

Oge sniffed. "I really hope so. Death doesn't make things easier for anyone of us."

My thoughts immediately drifted to Levi. How was he handling this? He couldn't handle the loss of a previous radiant and I didn't know how he would take Taye's death. I needed to check him out by myself. "I'll be back soon. I just need to do something."

She gave me a distracted nod, then I hauled myself to the one place I knew Levi would be at, to clear his thoughts. The dojo.