Dan lied on the ground bloody and broken in front of Vega her scream left me sheriving. My eyes traveled up to see Shay looking over the side of the waterfall his distance face wore a mixture of surprise, and scared. Vega frantically pawed at Dan who was bleeding out quicker than I have ever seen before. No movie ever prepared you to see such a thing. After her scream everything around me became quiet I knew she was talking but I couldn't hold onto anything solid that she said. No sounds came from birds and crickets either.
"DAN!!" Vega broke through and I could hear once again. "Dan!! You're ok." she cried. But he wasn't.. I stood a good ten feet away from him but his blood already found it's way too smother me. His eyes glossed over while looking up at Vega, he twitched slightly each time he tried to move. "Danial you're ok." he touched the side of her cheek trying to wipe the tears that fell from her eyes but all he did was leave a trail of blood going down her face. "You said you wouldn't leave me. Remember?"
"I'm not." he managed to stay through a thin layer of blood.
"Remember all of the things we wanted to do?" I knew this isn't what she wanted to tell him but she must have known he wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet. The impact he must have suffered was strong since his head was cracked. Vega keeps trying to stop the bleeding even taking her shirt off to try and stop it. His legs were twisted like a colorful lollipop his bone playing the role as the stick. "Remember? That we didn't have anything going for us back home so we were just going to move. Tell no one that we were ok. I would get my GED wherever we chose to settle down. Maybe we would go to California or New York you always described them as freedom places.. Or we could travel till we liked something. We would do stupid jobs and it wouldn't matter because we would have each other. We would make new friends and better friends wherever we end up.. Get married and get a house or a crappy apartment either is fine with me...Dan.." she finally broke. She leaned her head against his chest crying and he wrapped his arm around her weakly. "You don't have to hold on for the account of me." he looked at her bright red blood drip from his lips he was trying to keep himself together for her. He didn't want her to see him like this... I wanted to grab her pull her away from the sight.. Pull him away from the sight.
He opened his mouth and more blood ran down the side of his mouth just like the waterfall that stood just feet behind him. Vega whimpered as she tried smearing the blood away from his mouth but each time it came back faster and thicker. "You forgot one thing." he managed to mumbled through the blood. How he could say anything I'll never know.
"No I didn't." she cried. "I'm pregnant Dan. I have known for a while I just didn't tell you and I'm sorry." His face turned brighter than the blood he was happy till his sadness crept in. He wasn't going to be here long enough to see it or hold it. He wasn't going to be here to play the father role. She scooted closer to him and she picked his head and sat it on her lap he look up at her smiling slightly. I have never seen such heartbreak... He kissed her stomach and she laughed through the pain. "I'll never stop loving you.."
"You're so beautiful..." she breathed in deeply and he pushed her hair back with a shaky hand. "I love you..." he started to choke but there was no way he wouldn't stop trying to say what he need to say. "Keep it a secret for as long as you can.. Don't let her find out.. Keep it from him too. Don't let her catch you or our baby..."
"Dan."
"Tell them everything I told you... You got a snake.." Shay came running and yelling for Dan and Dan grabbed at Vega's shoulder pulling her down. "Shay di- d- d-.." his hand slid down her back and left a thud noise on the ground.
"Dan?" Vega said. "Daniel?"
No response came from him.
That was it.
"DANIAL!!!" she cried. "Dan." she pushed her hair back as the wind blew. Her eyes filled the more she called out for him. "Dan!... Please come back... Please.. I can't do this without you.. Dan! Daniel.. Dan.. Please."
Shay grabbed her yanking her away from his brother, he tossed her to the side and he grabbed at his brother. "Dan.. Dan.. DAN!!" Vega stood up and she held up her fist.
"Alright let's do it."
"What?" he asked her.
"I'm ready to rumble." she pushed him away from Dan.
"I'm not going to fight you Vega.. You're a girl."
"I'm going to beat your ass." she slapped him cursing. "This is your fault."
"I didn't do anything."
I stepped in for her sake not his.. Mostly for Dan's sake because he wouldn't have wanted this. "Vega." I simply told her and she fell crying.
Shay wiped his eyes as he sat on the other side of Dan he went to grabbed his hand and Vega slapped it away. "Don't touch him."
"He's my brother." Shay told her.
"I don't care." she grabbed ahold of both Dan's hands and held them close. She bent down and kissed him. "Don't leave me." she mumbled.
"Oh my God! What happened here?" Katie asked and Shay looked up.
"Dan fell." Shay told her. "Clumsy motherfucker."
I watched as Vega ran her fingers through his dark brown hair. "Dan." she cried hopefully.
"He's gone Vega and he's never coming back so stop it already."
"Leave her alone Shay." Katie told him. "Vega would you like me to build him a fire?"
"No."
"Katie build him one." Shay told her.
"This is not a democracy Shay you don't get to make the decisions." Vega told him. "I'm going to do this my way. The way that Dan would have wanted it."
"And which way is that? Leaving him to rot so he can look worst than Tigeress did."
"Tigeress?" Brett voice squeaked as he talked. "I loved her."
"I don't give a shit about Tigeress, Brett. Shut the fuck up and be a man already."
I grabbed Shay by his shirt and I slammed him down "Do not talk to Brett like that." I told him.
"What is there a rule now that says I can't say what's on my mind?"
"Damn right there is."
"Go to hell Hunter."
"Fuck you."
"Get off of me."
"Are you going to behave?"
"It depends if I get a choice on how my own brother is buried."
"You don't get a choice.. You want to know why?"
"Why?"
"Because he wouldn't want that."
"He's my brother."
"That might have been the case but you weren't family.." he spit at me and I kicked him in the side. "Vega you do it anyway you want if you need my help then I'm here for you."
She weakly looked up at me then back at Dan she looked into his open eyes and cried louder. Katie sat down next to her and she started to close his eyes till she stopped her. "Leave it Katie. It's ok."
"Are you sure?" Katie asked her.
"Yeah.. I want to remember such beauty because there is no more in the world."
"Do you need a hug?"
"Katie do you need one?"
"I kinda do..." Vega hugged Katie it was a small hug but it plastered a small smile onto her face. "You need us to go?" Vega shook her head and Katie stood up. "Come on you guys leave her be."
Thomas and Ellfie walked away slowly, Katie made sure Brett was alright and she said random things like what color is this and that to keep him sane, I ran my hand along Vega's head and she smiled slightly up at me.
"This is where faith gets you." Shay said.
"Faith got him far Shay... It finally set him free." Vega told him.
"Set him free from what? His life wasn't horrible."
"From you Shay... From you."
Shay stood up before I could say anything and he walked away. "Daniel Raymond Smyers I will love you till the very day I die.. and forever after."