"DON'T DROP THAT THUN THUN THUN. DON'T, DON'T DROP THAT THUN THUN THUN."
I woke up with a jump and shut off my alarm on my phone. I checked the time on my phone but it was blocked with a message. I quickly typed in my password and read the message.
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From: Earnie
Hello Rhiver. Today's the day. You have an hour to meet us by the back ally of the nearest train station to repay your debts. Do not waste my time. If you are late, i will have my boys finish you off.
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The message was sent a half an hour ago.
"Shit shit shit shit shit." I muttered to myself.
I jumped out of my bed and quickly put on a light sweatshirt. I looked over at my bed an realized Ian was not in it.
"Rhiver we need to talk." Ian said storming through the front door.
"Can it wait? I have a really important thing to do." I said looking at the clock. Im wasting time here!
"No I have to tell you-"
"Seriously Ian i have to go!" I said grabbing the keys for the rented van.
"It will just take one-"
"Just tell me later!" I pleaded.
"ME AND CHACHI ARE TOGETHER!" He finally screamed.
"Wh-what?" I stuttered not understanding what just happened.
"Rhiver just let me explain..."
My heart dropped. The lump in my throat made my whole esophagus hurt.
"So all of what you said last night was a lie! A big god damn lie! " I felt tears starting to rim around my eyes.
"No Rhiver I-"
"I can't believe I was so stupid. To think you could have fell in love with me. But the worst part is...I actually started to l-love y-you." My voice cracked and I ended up sobbing like a moron in front of him.
I had enough. Enough hurt. Enough pain. I walked towards the door and opened it but instead my forearm stayed in the room.
"Please Rhiver!" Ian said grabbing my arm.
"I hate you." I finally said. And with that I tugged back my arm and ran out the door to the parking lot.
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"Come on!" I screamed/sobbed at the crowd of cars. I had five minutes. Five minutes to get to the train station and give Earnie his money. Five minutes to make everything right.
Five minutes seems like such little time but believe me, these little five minutes seemed like an eternity.
I had finally got to the train station. I didn't even check how much time I had left because 1. I couldn't really see because of the massive amount of tears pouring out of my eyes and 2. I just didn't give a damn at that point.
I ran, ran to the dark alley to where I should of found Earnie but instead found a familiar face. I couldn't believe it. After all this time, he shows up out of no where.
"Casper!?" I shouted to the figure.
"Oh god Rhiver run! Get out of here!" He pleaded running towards me.
"What?"
"Rhiver I am so sorry!" He shouted.
All of a sudden I felt a shooting pain go up my spine. It felt like my back was being burned off with a flamethrower. The adrenaline must have been running through me like wild fire because I was miraculously still standing. I was motionless until Casper was about inches away from me.
I dropped to my knees letting all of my weight fall to the Earth. My whole body was now on fire but as I touched the writhing pain coming from my back I felt cold. Breathing hurt just as bad. I finally dropped onto the cold, hard pavement, letting my face hit the ground.
You know how they say when you are in a life or death situation, you see your life pass before your eyes. Yeah, I didn't see anything but instead, I heard voices. They were so clear that I could tell exactly whose voice was whose. My mother's, my father's, Casper's, Pat's, Brian's, Olivia's, Ian's. I smiled as my mind replayed the conversations we had in the past. My smile turned into a raspy laugh that was muted with me coughing up my own blood. I was dying. This was it. My life was ending but somehow, I was not scared. I was ready to be with my father. I smiled as I prepared myself to see him in the afterlife.
"Goodbye." I whispered to the world.
"Thank you for you consideration." Was the last thing I heard before I took my final breath, slowly closed my eyes, and let the soothing darkness fall over me.
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Ian's POV
"Have you called her?" Brian asked pacing around the lounge.
"Yes like a million times." I rubbed my eyes trying to hold back the tears. They were still red and raw from when Rhiver left. She has been gone now since morning and missed her class which was got us all very worried... Rhiver never misses class.
"DAMN IT!" Pat screamed while kicking over the coffee table that was placed in the middle of us. He was taking this harder than all of us. "THIS IS ALL YOU FUCKING FAULT! I SHOULD KILL YOU!" he fumed and charged toward me.
He grabbed the collar of my shirt and lifted me up like a feather. Brian, Phil, and Emilio had to pry him off of me since he was cutting of my air flow. I slipped out from his grip and slumped back into my chair.
"YOU DON'T THINK IM HURTING TOO?" I screamed back. This time I let the tears flow, not caring about who saw me let my emotions out. All I cared about was Rhiver. I sobbed into my lap while cradling my head. I wish i could just get one do-over. One more chance to tell Rhiver how I really feel.
"Where do you think she could be?" Emilio said calmly.
"If i knew wouldn't you think i would be fucking out there looking for her?!" I said picking my head up and combing my hair with my fingers. The light stung my eyes as I looked around the room.
"I just don't understan-" Phil was cut off from Pat's phone ringing.
He quickly answered it and smacked the phone to his ear.
"Hello?..... Yes this is.....Oh god....oh god no....ok." His voice grew into loud whimpers.
"Was it her?!" I said after he ended the call.
"She's in the hospital." He said quickly and slipped on his sweatshirt. "Brian and Ian come with me. Phil and Emilio call Mona." I could tell he was trying to stay strong but on the instead he was already broken. That was his little sister, he practically raised her.
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We all ran into the hospital hoping to find some answers about Rhiver.
"Um we are looking for a Rhiver Montez?" Pat said.
"Oh yes one moment." The woman said with a thick German accent. I tapped on the desk with anticipation. Did she get into an accident? Is she ok? Is she....dead?
"You must be Patrick." A doctor came up to us and shook Pat's hand firmly with an emotionless face. He had no accent and certainly did not look very German. He had dark brown eyes and dark skin.
"Yeah where is she?"
"Maybe you boys should sit down." He said gravely and motioned us to sit down in the waiting room but we all stood waiting for the answer.
"Now I know this probably may come as a surprise so prepare your self with some shocking news. Ms. Montez has been a victim of a shooting."
My jaw dropped. It was silent for a while except for sobbing noises from Pat. I didn't know what to say or do so I just fell into the nearest chair. This was all my fault. Brian came over and sat in the same position as me, back arched and covering his mouth.
"We don't exactly know who or why did this. The bullet had passed through the spine and was lodged into her lung. She is stabilized but her heart had stopped twice. I am very sorry."
"Will she ever be able to walk again?" Brian said close to breaking down.
"Full recovery is...slim to none im sorry to say."
Slim to none. A slim to none chance that she can never walk again. A slim to none chance that she can never dance again. A slim to none chance that she will never have a normal life.
"You could see her if you like." The doctor finished and led us to her room.
"Maybe you should go first." I said to Pat, still shocked at this whole situation. He nodded and quietly turned the steel doorknob.
"This feels like a dream." I said staring at the blue and white tiles.
"This isn't your fault." Brian said staring at Pat who was now leaning over her.
"But it is. If only I hadn't told her today. If only I had waited one more day maybe she would still be-" I couldn't even finish my sentence because i just started uncontrollably crying.
"Hey man hey, it's going to be ok." Brian brought me into a hug and started to pat my back.
"Iv got to go man. I need to call her mom and break the news to her." Pat said wiping his tears and leaving the door open for me.